Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32636383›Full record

ArticleNature communications2020

The VIP-VPAC2 neuropeptidergic axis is a cellular pacemaking hub of the suprachiasmatic nucleus circadian circuit.

Andrew P Patton, Mathew D Edwards, Nicola J Smyllie, Ryan Hamnett, Johanna E Chesham, Marco Brancaccio, Elizabeth S Maywood, Michael H Hastings

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
52citing papers in PubMed
4.4field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

52 citing papers in PubMed, 71 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. A direct SCN-to-DMH output pathway organizes circadian behavioral timing.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Reconsidering mammalian circadian organization.Neurobiology of sleep and circadian rhythms · 2026
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. The inferred functional connectome underlying circadian synchronization in the mouse suprachiasmatic nucleus.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Neuropeptidergic systems in psychiatric disorders.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025
    Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Andrew P Patton *MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Ave., Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2666-4254
Mathew D Edwards *MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Ave., Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK.
Nicola J Smyllie *MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Ave., Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6324-1421
Ryan Hamnett *MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Ave., Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9118-1585
Johanna E CheshamMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Ave., Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8981-2667
Marco BrancaccioMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Ave., Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8053-5221
Elizabeth S MaywoodMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Ave., Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK.
Michael H HastingsMRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Ave., Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK. mha@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8576-6651
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology · GB

Funding

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/P017355/1Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/R016658/1Medical Research Council MC_U105170643
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) are the principal mammalian circadian timekeeper, co-ordinating organism-wide daily and seasonal rhythms. To achieve this, cell-autonomous circadian timing by the ~20,000 SCN cells is welded into a tight circuit-wide ensemble oscillation. This creates essential, network-level emergent properties of precise, high-amplitude oscillation with tightly defined ensemble period and phase. Although synchronised, regional cell groups exhibit differentially phased activity, creating stereotypical spatiotemporal circadian waves of cellular activation across the circuit. The cellular circuit pacemaking components that generate these critical emergent properties are unknown. Using intersectional genetics and real-time imaging, we show that SCN cells expressing vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) or its cognate receptor, VPAC2, are neurochemically and electrophysiologically distinct, but together they control de novo rhythmicity, setting ensemble period and phase with circuit-level spatiotemporal complexity. The VIP/VPAC2 cellular axis is therefore a neurochemically and topologically specific pacemaker hub that determines the emergent properties of the SCN timekeeper.

Indexed as

Circadian RhythmAnimalsCircadian ClocksCryptochromesFemaleGenes, ReporterGenetic Complementation TestMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLNeuronsOptogeneticsOscillometryReceptors, Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide, Type IISignal TransductionSuprachiasmatic NucleusCry1 protein, mouseCryptochromesReceptors, Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide, Type IIVasoactive Intestinal Peptide

Identifiers

PMID32636383
PMCPMC7341843
OpenAlexW3038425679

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.