Honma Sato, Honma Ken ichi
Department of Physiology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, 060-8638, Sapporo, Japan.
Trends Neurosci. 2003 Dec;26(12):650-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2003.09.012.
The circadian clock in mammals is located in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus. At the core of the clock are molecular autofeedback loops associated with clock gene transcription. However, the mechanisms of circadian signal transduction are basically unknown. A recent report by Ikeda et al. provides new insights into the intracellular signaling pathways involved in conveying circadian clock information from the core loop to cellular functions. Cytosolic Ca(2+) is proposed to be a key substance linking the 'pendulum' to the 'hands' of the clock.
哺乳动物的昼夜节律时钟位于下丘脑视交叉上核。时钟的核心是与时钟基因转录相关的分子自动反馈环。然而，昼夜节律信号转导的机制基本上还不清楚。池田等人最近的一份报告为从核心环向细胞功能传递昼夜节律时钟信息所涉及的细胞内信号通路提供了新的见解。胞质Ca(2+)被认为是将时钟的“钟摆”与“指针”联系起来的关键物质。
