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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Parallel Measurement of Circadian Clock Gene Expression and Hormone Secretion in Human Primary Cell Cultures
Published on: November 11, 2016
Expression profiles of 10 circadian clock genes in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells
Hiroaki Kusanagi1, Akiko Hida, Kohtoku Satoh
1Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Neuro and Locomotor Science, Akita University School of Medicine, Akita, Japan.
Abstract:
The circadian clock system regulates daily rhythms of physiology and behavior. The mammalian master clock in the suprachiasmatic nuclei orchestrates these biological rhythms in peripheral tissues. Since blood is the most accessible tissue source, we sought to dissect the human circadian clock system by characterizing clock gene expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from eight young, healthy subjects. By evaluating the temporal expression profiles of 10 circadian clock genes, we found that Period 1 (Per1), Per2, and Per3 are rhythmically expressed in human blood samples. Our results suggest that evaluating the rhythmic expression of human Per genes could reveal an individual's circadian phenotype.
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