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Parallel Measurement of Circadian Clock Gene Expression and Hormone Secretion in Human Primary Cell Cultures
Published on: November 11, 2016
When does it start ticking? Ontogenetic development of the mammalian circadian system
Elmar Christ1, Horst-Werner Korf2, Charlotte von Gall2
1Dr. Senckenbergische Anatomie II, Fachbereich Medizin, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Abstract:
Circadian rhythms in physiology and behavior ensure that vital functions are temporally synchronized with cyclic environmental changes. In mammals, the circadian system is conducted by a central circadian rhythm generator that resides in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and controls multiple subsidiary circadian oscillators in the periphery. The molecular clockwork in SCN and peripheral oscillators consists of autoregulatory transcriptional/translational feedback loops of clock genes. The adult circadian system is synchronized to the astrophysical day by light whereas the fetal and neonatal circadian system entrains to nonphotic rhythmic maternal signals. This chapter reviews maturation and entrainment of the central circadian rhythm generator in the SCN and of peripheral oscillators during ontogenetic development.
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