title: Speed control: cogs and gears that drive the circadian clock.
abstract: In most organisms, an intrinsic circadian (~24-h) timekeeping system drives rhythms of physiology and behavior. Within cells that contain a circadian clock, specific transcriptional activators and repressors reciprocally regulate each other to generate a basic molecular oscillator. A mismatch of the period generated by this oscillator with the external environment creates circadian disruption, which can have adverse effects on neural function. Although several clock genes have been extensively characterized, a fundamental question remains: how do these genes work together to generate a ~24-h period? Period-altering mutations in clock genes can affect any of multiple regulated steps in the molecular oscillator. In this review, we examine the regulatory mechanisms that contribute to setting the pace of the circadian oscillator.
authors: Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors: Xiangzhong
authors: X
authors: Zheng
authors: Amita
authors: A
authors: Sehgal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D057906:Circadian Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D056925:Circadian Rhythm Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D025461:Feedback, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D013493:Suprachiasmatic Nucleus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D056925:Circadian Rhythm Signaling Peptides and Proteins