A circadian sleep disorder reveals a complex clock.
Circadian rhythms are established by transcription of clock genes and autoregulatory transcriptional feedback loops. In this issue, Xu et al. (2007) characterize mice expressing a human Per2 mutation identified in patients with familial advanced sleep phase syndrome. Their results reveal that PER2 phosphorylation, by CK1delta and other kinases, is surprisingly complex and has opposite effects on PER2 levels and period length.
Mignot
Emmanuel
E
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, 701-B Welch Road, Stanford, CA 94304, USA. mignot@stanford.edu
Takahashi
Joseph S
JS
D000818:Animals; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D047389:Casein Kinase I / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D056950:Period Circadian Proteins; D010766:Phosphorylation; D020178:Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C421902:PER2 protein, human; D056950:Period Circadian Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D047389:Casein Kinase I