An intact pituitary vasopressin system is critical for building a robust circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus

The circadian clock is a biological timekeeping system that oscillates with a circa-24-h period, reset by environmental timing cues, especially light, to the 24-h day–night cycle. In mammals, a “central” clock in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) synchronizes “peripheral” clocks throughout the body to regulate behavior, metabolism, and physiology. A key feature of the clock’s oscillation is resistance to abrupt perturbations, but the mechanisms underlying such robustness are not well understood. Here, we probe clock robustness to unexpected photic perturbation by measuring the speed of reentrainment of the murine locomotor rhythm after an abrupt advance of the light–dark cycle. Using an intersectional genetic approach, we implicate a critical role for arginine vasopressin pathways, both central within the SCN and peripheral from the anterior pituitary.