Mammalian PER2 regulates AKT activation and DNA damage response

PER2 is a key mammalian circadian clock protein. It also has a tumor suppressive function. Down regulation of PER2 in the cultured cancer cells accelerates cell proliferation, while overexpression of PER2 inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis. The Per2 mutant mice have a cancer prone phenotype and an altered DNA damage response. Here we report that PER2 regulates AKT activity. Cells with down-regulated PER2 expression have prolonged high levels of AKT T308 phosphorylation after growth factor stimulation or DNA damage. PER2 down-regulation delays DNA damage induced Chk2 activation and overrides DNA damage induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.