The mammalian circadian timing system consists of a central pacemaker in brain hypothalamus and damping oscillators in most peripheral tissues. To investigate the mechanism that controls circadian rhythms in the mammalian peripheral tissues, we examined the expression rhythm of mPer2, BMAL1, albumin D-site binding protein (DBP), and Rev-erbalpha mRNAs in the heart of homozygous Clock mutant mice on Jcl:ICR background under the temporal feeding restriction. Unexpectedly, the restricted feeding (RF) shifted the circadian phase of both mPer2 and BMAL1 mRNA expressions in the heart not only of wild-type mice but also of Clock mutant mice. Furthermore, in the Clock mutant mice, the amplitude of the circadian expression of mPer2 and BMALI mRNAs was dramatically increased by the RF. These data indicate that functional CLOCK is not required for an entrainment of peripheral clocks to RF. On the other hand, the expression levels of DBP and Rev-erbalpha mRNAs were blunted in Clock mutant mice not only under ad libitum but also under RF conditions. Thus, it seems that the rhythmic expression of Rev-erbalpha is not involved in the RF-induced circadian expression of BMALI mRNA, although REV-ERBalpha has been identified as a major regulator of BMALI transcription. Thus, the entraining mechanism of peripheral tissues to the RF seems to be different from that to the central clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.