Cryptochromes--bringing the blues to circadian rhythms.
Cryptochromes are blue/UV-A-absorbing photoreceptor proteins discovered originally in plants and so named because their nature proved elusive in over a century of research. Now we know that the photoreceptor essential for proper seedling establishment in blue light has homologues in the animal kingdom - in insects, in mice and in humans. In recent months, evidence has emerged pointing to a common role for cryptochromes in all of these organisms in entraining the circadian clock, a biochemical timing mechanism running within cells, synchronizing metabolism to the daily light-dark cycle and having consequences on a much larger scale in the regulation of behaviour such as the sleep-wake cycle.
Dept of Cell Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. pdevlin@scripps.edu
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D000818:Animals; D017360:Arabidopsis; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D001683:Biological Clocks; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D056931:Cryptochromes; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005136:Eye Proteins; D005420:Flavoproteins / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D017956:Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C538962:CRY1 protein, Arabidopsis; D056931:Cryptochromes; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005136:Eye Proteins; D005420:Flavoproteins; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; C119828:cry protein, Drosophila