生物谷报道：英国医学研究委员会科学家16日在science发表论文，报道了关于生物钟最新的研究结果。
c-AMP作为体内一种重要的信号分子在视交叉上核(suprachiasmatic nuclei, SCN)中也起到了关键的作用。而人体生物钟就位于大脑中的视交叉上核。 科学家表示，对于因航空旅行、倒班或疾病打乱了睡眠规律的人，控制c-AMP生物路径的药物能够重新设置他们的生物钟。该委员会已就此项技术提出专利申请。 生理节律混乱日益成为慢性疾病的重要成因。如果能找到控制生物钟的方法，也许就能知道在生物钟紊乱时如何进行调节。（生物谷www.bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Science 16 May 2008，DOI: 10.1126/science.1152506
cAMP-Dependent Signaling as a Core Component of the Mammalian Circadian Pacemaker
John S. O'Neill,1* Elizabeth S. Maywood,1 Johanna E. Chesham,1 Joseph S. Takahashi,2 Michael H. Hastings1
The mammalian circadian clockwork is modeled as transcriptional and posttranslational feedback loops, whereby circadian genes are periodically suppressed by their protein products. We show that adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) signaling constitutes an additional, bona fide component of the oscillatory network. cAMP signaling is rhythmic and sustains the transcriptional loop of the suprachiasmatic nucleus, determining canonical pacemaker properties of amplitude, phase, and period. This role is general and is evident in peripheral mammalian tissues and cell lines, which reveals an unanticipated point of circadian regulation in mammals qualitatively different from the existing transcriptional feedback model. We propose that daily activation of cAMP signaling, driven by the transcriptional oscillator, in turn sustains progression of transcriptional rhythms. In this way, clock output constitutes an input to subsequent cycles.
1 Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK.
2 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Neurobiology and Physiology, Northwestern University, 2205 Tech Drive, Evanston, IL 60208–3520, USA.
* Present address: Center for Systems Biology at Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JU, UK.
