Albrecht Urs
Department of Medicine, Division of Biochemistry, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
J Physiol Paris. 2006 Nov-Dec;100(5-6):243-51. doi: 10.1016/j.jphysparis.2007.05.004. Epub 2007 Jun 8.
In mammals, the master circadian clock that drives many biochemical, physiological and behavioral rhythms is located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Generation and maintenance of circadian rhythms rely on complex interlaced feedback loops based on transcriptional and posttranscriptional events involving clock genes and kinases. This clock serves the purpose to organize an organism's biochemistry on a 24 h time scale thereby avoiding interference between biochemical pathways and optimizing performance. Synchronization to environmental 24 h oscillations tunes physiological processes optimally with nature. In this review, I briefly describe the principle of the clock mechanism, its synchronization to the environment and consequences on health when the circadian clock is disrupted.
在哺乳动物中，驱动许多生物化学、生理和行为节律的主生物钟位于下丘脑的视交叉上核（SCN）。昼夜节律的产生和维持依赖于基于涉及生物钟基因和激酶的转录和转录后事件的复杂交错反馈回路。这个生物钟的作用是在24小时的时间尺度上组织生物体的生物化学过程，从而避免生化途径之间的干扰并优化性能。与环境24小时振荡同步可使生理过程与自然达到最佳协调。在这篇综述中，我简要描述了生物钟机制的原理、其与环境的同步以及生物钟被破坏时对健康的影响。
