A noncanonical E-box enhancer drives mouse Period2 circadian oscillations in vivo

The mouse Period2 (mPer2) locus is an essential negative-feedback element of the mammalian circadian-clock mechanism. Recent work has shown that mPer2 circadian gene expression persists in both central and peripheral tissues. Here, we analyze the mouse mPer2 promoter and identify a circadian enhancer (E2) with a noncanonical 5′-CACGTT-3′ E-box located 20 bp upstream of the mPer2 transcription start site. The E2 enhancer accounts for most circadian transcriptional drive of the mPer2 locus by CLOCK:BMAL1, is a major site of DNasel hypersensitivity in this region, and is constitutively bound by a transcriptional complex containing the CLOCK protein. Importantly, the E2 enhancer is sufficient to drive self-sustained circadian rhythms of luciferase activity in central and peripheral tissues from mPer2-E2::Luciferase transgenic mice with tissue-specific phase and period characteristics. Last, genetic analysis with mutations in Clock and Bmal1 shows that the E2 enhancer is a target of CLOCK and BMAL1 in vivo.