Department of Neurobiology and Physiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
Annu Rev Physiol. 2010;72:605-24. doi: 10.1146/annurev-physiol-021909-135815.
Circadian clocks organize behavior and physiology to adapt to daily environmental cycles. Genetic approaches in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, have revealed widely conserved molecular gears of these 24-h timers. Yet much less is known about how these cell-autonomous clocks confer temporal information to modulate cellular functions. Here we discuss our current knowledge of circadian clock function in Drosophila, providing an overview of the molecular underpinnings of circadian clocks. We then describe the neural network important for circadian rhythms of locomotor activity, including how these molecular clocks might influence neuronal function. Finally, we address a range of behaviors and physiological systems regulated by circadian clocks, including discussion of specific peripheral oscillators and key molecular effectors where they have been described. These studies reveal a remarkable complexity to circadian pathways in this "simple" model organism.
生物钟组织行为和生理机能以适应日常环境周期。在果蝇中使用遗传方法已经揭示了这些 24 小时计时器的广泛保守的分子齿轮。然而，关于这些细胞自主时钟如何赋予时间信息来调节细胞功能，我们知之甚少。在这里，我们讨论了我们目前对果蝇生物钟功能的了解，提供了生物钟的分子基础概述。然后，我们描述了对运动活动的生物钟节律很重要的神经网络，包括这些分子钟如何影响神经元功能。最后，我们讨论了受生物钟调节的一系列行为和生理系统，包括讨论特定的外周振荡器和已描述的关键分子效应器。这些研究揭示了这种“简单”模式生物中的生物钟途径的显著复杂性。
