Albrecht U, Sun Z S, Eichele G, Lee C C
Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
Cell. 1997 Dec 26;91(7):1055-64. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80495-x.
A mouse gene, mper1, having all the properties expected of a circadian clock gene, was reported recently. This gene is expressed in a circadian pattern in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). mper1 maintains this pattern of circadian expression in constant darkness and can be entrained to a new light/dark cycle. Here we report the isolation of a second mammalian gene, mper2, which also has these properties and greater homology to Drosophila period. Expression of mper1 and mper2 is overlapping but asynchronous by 4 hr. mper1, unlike period and mper2, is expressed rapidly after exposure to light at CT22. It appears that mper1 is the pacemaker component which responds to light and thus mediates photic entrainment.
最近报道了一个具有生物钟基因所有预期特性的小鼠基因mper1。该基因在视交叉上核（SCN）中以昼夜节律模式表达。mper1在持续黑暗中维持这种昼夜节律表达模式，并且可以被调整到新的光/暗周期。在此，我们报道了第二个哺乳动物基因mper2的分离，它也具有这些特性，并且与果蝇周期基因有更高的同源性。mper1和mper2的表达是重叠的，但相差4小时不同步。与周期基因和mper2不同，mper1在CT22光照后迅速表达。看来mper1是对光作出反应从而介导光诱导的起搏器成分。
