Kon Naohiro, Fukada Yoshitaka
Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan. (Current affiliation : Cardiovascular-Metabolics Research Laboratories, DAIICHI SANKYO CO., LTD., Japan.).
Clin Calcium. 2015 Feb;25(2):201-8.
Circadian clock generates a variety of biological rhythms such as sleep/wake cycles and blood hormone rhythms. The circadian clock also bolsters daily mental activities. In fact, abnormalities of the circadian rhythms are found in several neurological disorders. The circadian clock has two important functions: (i) a cell-autonomous oscillatory function and (ii) a phase-adjusting function that synchronizes the clock oscillation with environmental cycling conditions such as light/dark cycle. Behavioral rhythms are controlled by the central clock in hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The central clock orchestrates peripheral clocks in the other tissues via neuronal connection and/or actions of humoral factors. The molecular mechanism of the cell-autonomous clock is based on transcriptional feedback regulation of clock genes by their encoded products. Ca2+ is essential for not only the light response of the clock but also the cell autonomous oscillation mechanism. This article provides an overview of recent progress in studies of Ca2+-dependent regulatory mechanism of the molecular clockwork.
生物钟产生各种生物节律，如睡眠/觉醒周期和血液激素节律。生物钟还支持日常的精神活动。事实上，在几种神经疾病中都发现了昼夜节律异常。生物钟有两个重要功能：（i）细胞自主振荡功能和（ii）相位调整功能，使时钟振荡与环境循环条件（如光/暗周期）同步。行为节律由下丘脑视交叉上核（SCN）中的中央时钟控制。中央时钟通过神经元连接和/或体液因子的作用协调其他组织中的外周时钟。细胞自主时钟的分子机制基于时钟基因由其编码产物进行的转录反馈调节。Ca2+不仅对时钟的光反应至关重要，而且对细胞自主振荡机制也至关重要。本文概述了分子生物钟的Ca2+依赖性调节机制研究的最新进展。
