Mistimed sleep and waking activity in humans disrupts glucocorticoid signalling transcripts and SP1, but not plasma cortisol rhythms

Abstract

Cortisol is a robust circadian signal that synchronises peripheral circadian clocks with the central clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus via glucocorticoid receptors that regulate peripheral gene expression. Misalignment of the cortisol rhythm with the sleep–wake cycle, as occurs in shift work, is associated with negative health outcomes, but underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. We experimentally induced misalignment between the sleep–wake cycle and melatonin and cortisol rhythms in humans and measured time series blood transcriptomics while participants slept in-phase and out-of-phase with the central clock. The cortisol rhythm remained unchanged, but many glucocorticoid signalling transcripts were disrupted by mistimed sleep. To investigate which factors drive this dissociation between cortisol and its signalling pathways, we conducted bioinformatic and temporal coherence analyses. We found that glucocorticoid signalling transcripts affected by mistimed sleep were enriched for binding sites for the transcription factor SP1. Furthermore, changes in the timing of the rhythms of SP1 transcripts, a major regulator of transcription, and changes in the timing of rhythms in transcripts of the glucocorticoid signalling pathways were closely associated. Associations between the rhythmic changes in factors that affect SP1 expression and its activity, such as STAT3, EP300, HSP90AA1, and MAPK1, were also observed. We conclude that plasma cortisol rhythms incompletely reflect the impact of mistimed sleep on glucocorticoid signalling pathways and that sleep–wake driven changes in SP1 may mediate disruption of these pathways. These results aid understanding of mechanisms by which mistimed sleep affects health.

Time‐restricted eating for chronodisruption‐related chronic diseases

“…Apart from melatonin and the sleep/wake cycle, chronodisruption also enhanced and shifted the diurnal rhythm of circulating glucocorticoids (GCs) in shift workers or individuals subjected to mistimed sleep and sleep deprivation. [33][34][35][36] Furthermore, in both whole-body and adrenalspecific Bmal1 knockout mice, rhythmicity in GCs was disrupted affecting normal behavior and steroidogenesis. 37,38 Similarly, environmental disruption of the circadian clock using constant light in rats or subjecting mice to a 14 h/14 h light-dark cycle disrupted GC secretion by the adrenal cortex.…”

“…Apart from melatonin and the sleep/wake cycle, chronodisruption also enhanced and shifted the diurnal rhythm of circulating glucocorticoids (GCs) in shift workers or individuals subjected to mistimed sleep and sleep deprivation 33–36 . Furthermore, in both whole‐body and adrenal‐specific Bmal1 knockout mice, rhythmicity in GCs was disrupted affecting normal behavior and steroidogenesis 37,38 .…”