An integrated chronobiology facility for the large-scale study of biological rhythms at the behavioural, neurocircuit and cellular levels

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Numerous aspects of physiology present biological rhythms. This includes 24-hour (or circadian) rhythms such as sleep-wake cycles, feeding, hormone secretion, body temperature, to name a few, but also faster (ultradian) rhythms in behaviour and brain processes. The circadian rhythms allow the organism to be adequately adapted to cyclic variations of the environment (light-dark cycles, seasons), and they are generated by "biological clocks", which are located in the brain as well as in various other organs. As for the ultradian rhythms, they seem to rely on oscillations of molecules in the brain, such as dopamine. In order to understand how these circadian and ultradian clocks work, one needs a mean to monitor their rhythms in real-time and at various experimental levels. Recent technological advances allow the use of cells and tissues in which a bioluminescent molecule, e.g. luciferase, is followed over many days. This kind of system enables real-time assessment of the rhythmic properties of a sample, and to determine the effect of a disturbed clockwork. Such information can be put in relation with recordings made on live animals, at the behavioural level (locomotor activity rhythms) and neuronal circuit level (rhythms of molecules in the brain). The new chronobiology facility will include equipment for the large-scale study of biological rhythms at the behavioural (running wheel cages), neurobiological (fluorescence photometry, voltametry) and cellular (real-time luminometer) levels. It will be possible to test the same rodents (mice, rats, voles) at these different levels and thus gain an integrated view of their biological rhythms. This facility will also allow large-scale screenings designed to discover new molecular components of biological clocks. All the aspects of the research in the laboratories of the three applicants, including the research covered by their NSERC Discovery Grants will benefit from the requested equipment, which will be at the forefront of chronobiological research.