Birky Tana L, Bray Molly S
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
IUBMB Life. 2014 Jan;66(1):34-41. doi: 10.1002/iub.1241. Epub 2014 Jan 20.
Circadian rhythms are the daily patterns that occur within an organism, from gene expression to behavior. These rhythms are governed not only externally by environmental cues but also internally, with cell-autonomous molecular clock mechanisms present nearly ubiquitously throughout the cells of organisms. In more complex organisms, it has been suggested that the clock mechanisms serve varied functions depending on the tissue in which they are found. By disrupting core circadian gene function in specific tissues of animal models, the various roles of the circadian clock in differing tissues can begin to be defined. This review provides an overview of the model organisms used to elucidate tissue-specific functions of the molecular circadian clock.
昼夜节律是生物体内部从基因表达至行为所呈现的每日模式。这些节律不仅受外部环境线索的调控，也受内部调控，细胞自主分子时钟机制几乎普遍存在于生物体的所有细胞中。在更复杂的生物体中，有人提出时钟机制根据其所在组织发挥不同功能。通过破坏动物模型特定组织中的核心昼夜节律基因功能，可以开始确定昼夜节律时钟在不同组织中的各种作用。本综述概述了用于阐明分子昼夜节律时钟组织特异性功能的模式生物。
