Peripheral Circadian Oscillators

Jul 2, 2008Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Body clocks outside the brain: important processes and useful tools

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Abstract

Circadian clocks regulate the physiology and behavior of plants, animals, and humans over a 24-hour cycle.

The master clock in the brain's suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) directs circadian rhythms in mammals.
Peripheral clocks in most body cells are influenced by the SCN and play a role in circadian physiology.
Understanding peripheral oscillators helps to reveal the molecular components of biological clocks.
Genetic studies of these oscillators may shed light on how individual differences in chronotype develop.

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The lives of plants, animals, and human beings are all regulated by circadian clocks. In mammals, 24-hour rhythms of physiology and behavior are directed by a master clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the brain hypothalamus, which in turn entrains "slave" oscillators of similar molecular composition in most cells of the body. These peripheral clocks are interesting not only because they control many aspects of circadian physiology, but also because they are model systems through which we understand how the SCN regulates complex behavior. To this end, peripheral oscillators have been exploited both biochemically to understand the proteins that make up biological clocks, and genetically to decipher the ways in which individual differences in human chronotype might arise.

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Peripheral Circadian Oscillators

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