Heavy water lengthens the periods of circadian rhythms in various plant and animal species. Many studies have reported that drinking heavy water lengthens the periods of circadian activity rhythms of rodents by slowing the clock mechanism in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the mammalian circadian center. The SCN clock is stable and robust against disturbance, due to its intercellular network. It is unclear whether this robustness provides resistance to the effects of heavy water. Here, we report that heavy water lengthened the rhythm period of clock gene expression of the SCN and peripheral tissues in vitro using a PERIOD2::LUCIFERASE bioluminescence reporter. Our results show that the period-elongation rate of the SCN is similar to those of other tissues. Therefore, the intercellular network of the SCN is not resistant to the period-elongation effect of heavy water.

重水会延长各种植物和动物物种的昼夜节律周期。许多研究报告称，喝重水会通过减慢哺乳动物昼夜节律中心视交叉上核 (SCN) 的时钟机制来延长啮齿类动物的昼夜节律活动节律。由于其蜂窝网络，SCN 时钟稳定且抗干扰。尚不清楚这种稳健性是否能抵抗重水的影响。在这里，我们报告说，重水使用 PERIOD2::LUCIFERASE 生物发光报告基因在体外延长了 SCN 和外周组织的时钟基因表达的节律周期。我们的结果表明，SCN 的周期延长率与其他组织相似。所以，