Department of Systems Biology, Kyoto University, Japan.
Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2010 Jul 31;62(9-10):876-84. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2010.06.004. Epub 2010 Jul 8.
An internal circadian (from the Latin "circa" meaning "about" and "dien" meaning "day") clock has been found across kingdoms of life, a testimony that circadian rhythms are a basic feature of life on earth. Physiologically relevant circadian time is generated at the level of transcription-(post)translation feedback loop of clock genes, which machinery can be found in most cells throughout the body. Lesions of the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) abolish clock oscillations in the body, indicating thereby that rhythm generation is a hierarchial system with the SCN at the top. Disrupting this exquisitely harmonious system causes abnormal expression of cell-type specific clock-controlled genes, as revealed by the etiology of life-style related diseases such as hypertension.
一个内在的生物钟（来自拉丁语“circa”，意思是“大约”和“dien”，意思是“天”）已经在生命的各个领域中被发现，这证明了昼夜节律是地球上生命的一个基本特征。生理相关的生物钟是在转录-（翻译后）反馈环的时钟基因水平上产生的，这种机制可以在身体的大多数细胞中找到。下丘脑视交叉上核（SCN）的损伤消除了体内的时钟振荡，这表明节律产生是一个具有 SCN 处于顶端的分层系统。正如高血压等与生活方式相关疾病的病因所揭示的那样，破坏这个极其和谐的系统会导致特定于细胞类型的时钟控制基因的异常表达。
