Topic: Bmal1

Circadian clock gene expression in various midbrain areas plays a central role in the regulation of behavior, including reward-related processes, affective states, and motor functioning. Specifically, recent work has revealed a sex-specific effect of Bmal1 expression in the striatum on voluntary alcohol consumption in mice: suppression in males and augmentation in females. Interestingly, Bmal1 expression in the nucleus accumbens, a striatal subregion known for its role in mediating reward processes, inhibits alcohol consumption in both males and females, thus indicating that other striatal sub

Depression is associated with dysregulated circadian rhythms, but the role of intrinsic clocks in mood-controlling brain regions remains poorly understood. We found increased oscillation of clock negative regulatory loop, as well as a phase shift of Bmal1 expression in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of a mouse model of depression (depression-like behavior and anhedonia induced by daily 10 min swim sessions for 5 consecutive days). Selective disruption of mPFC clockwork with viral Bmal1KO in CaMK2a excitatory neurons blocks the development of depressive-like phenotype in our model of depre

Background: Epilepsy and seizures occurrence are closely interwoven with brain inflammation. The inflammatory response is largely mediated by microglia, which are under strong circadian regulation. Circadian rhythms are 24-hour variations in physiological function orchestrated by a network of autoregulatory genes, including its key component, Bmal1. Here we explored the impact of Bmal1 knock down in microglial cells on seizure susceptibility and the CNS-immune profile.Methods: Forty young adult Bmal1-Cx3CR1Cre-ER mice were injected with either tamoxifen (40 mg/kg; IP; daily for 10 days) to ind