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Review
. 2022 Mar 2:13:818272.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.818272. eCollection 2022.

Critical Roles of the Circadian Transcription Factor BMAL1 in Reproductive Endocrinology and Fertility

Yin Jiang  1   2 , Shiping Li  1   2 , Wenming Xu  2   3 , Junjie Ying  1   2 , Yi Qu  1   2 , Xiaohui Jiang  2   4 , Ayuan Zhang  1   2 , Yan Yue  1   2 , Ruixi Zhou  1   2 , Tiechao Ruan  1   2 , Jinhui Li  1   2 , Dezhi Mu  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Critical Roles of the Circadian Transcription Factor BMAL1 in Reproductive Endocrinology and Fertility

Yin Jiang et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Brain and muscle aryl-hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator like protein1 (BMAL1), a core component of circadian oscillation, is involved in many physiological activities. Increasing evidence has demonstrated the essential role of BMAL1 in reproductive physiology. For instance, BMAL1-knockout (KO) mice were infertile, with impaired reproductive organs and gametes. Additionally, in BMAL1-KO mice, hormone secretion and signaling of hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (H-P-G) hormones were also disrupted, indicating that H-P-G axis was impaired in BMAL1-KO mice. Moreover, both BMAL1-KO mice and BMAL1-knockdown by small interfering RNA (siRNA) in vitro cultured steroidogenic cells showed that BMAL1 was associated with gonadal steroidogenesis and expression of related genes. Importantly, BMAL1 also participates in pathogenesis of human reproductive diseases. In this review, we elaborate on the impaired reproduction of BMAL1-KO mice including the reproductive organs, reproductive endocrine hormones, and reproductive processes, highlighting the vital role of BMAL1 in fertility and reproductive endocrinology.

Keywords: circadian gene BMAL1; circadian rhythm; fertility; reproduction; reproductive endocrine disorder.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The effect of BMAL1 knockout on mice reproduction. Both male and female BMAL1-KO mice suffered from varying degrees of dysplasia and dysfunction in their reproductive tissues. The female BMAL1-KO mice have smaller uteri and ovaries, with less corpora lutea, higher ratio of atretic follicles, fewer oocytes, higher ratio of abnormal oocytes, impaired decidualization procedures and thereby the impaired implantation function of the uterus. Male BMAL1-KO mice possess smaller testis, smaller seminiferous tubules, smaller seminal vesicles, with fewer sperms, more impaired Leydig cells, fragmented Chromatoid Body in round spermatids and their impaired behaviors of mating.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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