Alvarez-Saavedra, Matias Alberto2013-11-072013-11-0720102010Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 49-05, page: 3190.http://hdl.handle.net/10393/28722http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-19405Mammalian circadian rhythms of behaviour are synchronized to external time by daily resetting of the master pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), in response to light, in a process known as light-induced clock entrainment. microRNA-132 (miR-132) is induced by light within the SCN via a MAPK-CREB-dependent mechanism and has the capacity to attenuate the entraining effects of light. However, the identity of the genes that miR-132 regulates and their roles in the light-entrainment process have not yet been characterized. This thesis describes that 2 gene clusters involved in chromatin remodeling (i.e. Mecp2, Ep300, Jarid1a) and translational control (i.e. Btg2, Paip2a) are under the regulation of miR-132 in the SCN and coordinated regulation of these genes underlies miR132-dependent modulation of mPeriod1 (mPer1) and mPeriod2 (mPer2) and the light-entrainment process. I find that the Period genes are bound and transcriptionally modulated by MeCP2. In addition, Paip2a acts as a repressor of Period translation. This work further proposes that miR-132 is enriched for chromatin and translation-associated target genes-and, thus, miR-132 is an important orchestrator of chromatin remodeling and protein translation within the SCN clock, thereby fine-tuning clock entrainment.169 p.enChemistry, Biochemistry.Thesis