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Cryptochrome, Circadian Cycle, Cell Cycle Checkpoints, and Cancer

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Requests for reprints: Aziz Sancar, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, 314 Mary Ellen Jones Building, CB 7260, Chapel Hill, NC 27599. Phone: 919-962-0115; Fax: 919-843-8627; E-mail: aziz_sancar{at}med.unc.edu.

It has been reported that disruption of the circadian clock may lead to increased risk of breast cancer in humans and to a high rate or ionizing radiation–induced tumors and mortality in mice. Cryptochrome 1 and cryptochrome 2 proteins are core components of the mammalian circadian clock and mice mutated in both genes are arrhythmic. We tested Cry1^–/–Cry2^–/– mice and fibroblasts derived from these mice for radiation-induced cancer and killing and DNA damage checkpoints and killing, respectively. We find that the mutant mice are indistinguishable from the wild-type controls with respect to radiation-induced morbidity and mortality. Similarly, the Cry1^–/–Cry2^–/– mutant fibroblasts are indistinguishable from the wild-type controls with respect to their sensitivity to ionizing radiation and UV radiation and ionizing radiation–induced DNA damage checkpoint response. Our data suggest that disruption of the circadian clock in itself does not compromise mammalian DNA repair and DNA damage checkpoints and does not predispose mice to spontaneous and ionizing radiation–induced cancers. We conclude that the effect of circadian clock disruption on cellular response to DNA damage and cancer predisposition in mice may depend on the mechanism by which the clock is disrupted.

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