title: Stable circadian rhythms as a property of cell populations.
abstract: Our paper analyzes the main difficulties which the theory of circadian rhythms encounters in an attempt to explain the mechanisms of biological clocks. It is shown that the assumption of a small concentration of the enzymes involved in the cell-clock mechanism allows explaining such well-known properties of biological clocks as: 1) a large period of the circadian oscillation; 2) insignificant energy consumption; 3) insensitivity to inhibitors; 4) temperature independence; 5) initiation of circadian oscillations in response to a short single external impulse; 6) a limited possibility of synchronization by periodic external factors. It is shown also that the self-oscillating clock mechanism may exist at the level of cell populations. This mechanism is considered to be a temperature-dependent component of the circadian clocks in multicellular organisms.
authors.affiliation: Academy of Sciences, Moscow, USSR.
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Sel'kov
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Sozinov
mesh_terms: D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D004798:Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes