title: Brain clock driven by neuropeptides and second messengers.
abstract: The master circadian pacemaker in mammals is localized in a small portion of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). It is unclear how the SCN produces circadian rhythms. A common interpretation is that the SCN produces oscillations through the coupling of genetic oscillators in the neurons. The coupling is effected by a network of neuropeptides and second messengers. This network is crucial for the correct function of the SCN. However, models that study a possible oscillatory behavior of the network itself have received little attention. Here we propose and analyze a model to examine this oscillatory potential. We show that an intercellular oscillator emerges in the SCN as a result of the neuropeptide and second messenger dynamics. We find that this intercellular clock can produce circadian rhythms by itself with and without genetic clocks. We also found that the model is robust to perturbation of parameters and can be entrained by light-dark cycles.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of the IT4Innovations Centre of Excellence, Faculty of Philosophy and Science, Silesian University in Opava, 74601 Opava, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jesus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miro-Bueno
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of the IT4Innovations Centre of Excellence, Faculty of Philosophy and Science, Silesian University in Opava, 74601 Opava, Czech Republic and Departamento de Inteligencia Artificial, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Informáticos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sosík
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D057906:Circadian Clocks; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D015290:Second Messenger Systems
chemical_list: D009479:Neuropeptides