The 2008 Pittendrigh/Aschoff lecture: peripheral phase coordination in the mammalian circadian timing system

The mammalian timing system is composed of a bodywide web of cell-autonomous and self-sustained oscillators. A master clock in the SCN synchronizes peripheral clocks through yet poorly understood molecular signaling pathways. In this lecture I shall present some of the experimental approaches we are employing to elucidate signaling routes through which the SCN may phase entrain peripheral clocks. These attempts unveiled several candidate pathways worth pursuing in future studies, including signaling through nuclear receptors, cytoskeleton components, Ca(2+), fibroblast growth factors, ubiquitin ligases, Sirtuin 1 (a redox-sensing histone deacetylase), RNA binding proteins, and body temperature.