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A sense of time: how molecular clocks organize metabolism

Authors :
Joseph Bass
Akira Kohsaka
Source :
Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism. 18:4-11
Publication Year :
2007
Publisher :
Elsevier BV, 2007.

Abstract

The discovery of an internal temporal clockwork that coordinates behavior and metabolism according to the rising and setting of the sun was first revealed in flies and plants. However, in the past decade, a molecular transcription-translation feedback loop with similar properties has also been identified in mammals. In mammals, this transcriptional oscillator programs 24-hour cycles in sleep, activity and feeding within the master pacemaker neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus. More recent studies have shown that the core transcription mechanism is also present in other locations within the brain, in addition to many peripheral tissues. Processes ranging from glucose transport to gluconeogenesis, lipolysis, adipogenesis and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation are controlled through overlapping transcription networks that are tied to the clock and are thus time sensitive. Because disruption of tissue timing occurs when food intake, activity and sleep are altered, understanding how these many tissue clocks are synchronized to tick at the same time each day, and determining how each tissue 'senses time' set by these molecular clocks might open new insight into human disease, including disorders of sleep, circadian disruption, diabetes and obesity.

Details

ISSN :
10432760
Volume :
18
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....67474215f2d9a5f7f0d7e3da30073ba1
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2006.11.005