Link between light signal and circadian rhythms discovered
December 30th, 2010 - 1:15 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Dec 30 (ANI): Scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have pinpointed the link between light signal and circadian rhythms.
Aziz Sancar, and his colleagues have identified the genes that direct circadian rhythms in people, mice, fruit flies, fungi and several other organisms.
The research is important as it could help scientists understand sleep disorders, jet lag, cancer, bipolar disorder, depression and other diseases.
Sancar discovered a human protein called cryptochrome 15 years ago; it ‘resets’ the circadian clock but he didn’t know how.
In the current study, the team used fruit flies (Drosophilia melanogaster) to purify cryptochrome and developed a biochemical test that shows when and how the protein transmits signals.
“We can now detect the protein at work. When we expose cryptochrome to blue light in fruit flies, a millisecond of light exposure has a half-life during which we can examine the mechanism in the laboratory,” said Sancar.
“We can follow the molecular signals after light exposure and have a reliable model to test various hypotheses about how light interacts with the circadian systems we know are so important to biological processes.”
The paper is published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)
- New mechanism regulating body's 24-hour clock identified - Nov 12, 2010
- Glial brain cells that regulate circadian rhythms identified - Apr 15, 2011
- Why some people find it difficult to wake up in the morning - Feb 17, 2011
- Mechanism that controls 24-hour clock of all forms of life discovered - Jan 27, 2011
- Upsetting bio-clocks causes brain degeneration, early death - Jan 11, 2012
- Circadian clock genes control appetite, consumption in fruit flies - Dec 07, 2009
- Scientists discover better drugs for sleep problems - Apr 09, 2012
- Clock gene prepares plants for spring bloom - Mar 12, 2012
- Loss of gene '24' saps will to wake up - Feb 17, 2011
- Brain 'programmed from birth to recognize day and night cycle' - Apr 30, 2011
- Discovery to help minimise drugs' side-effects - Dec 21, 2011
- How sunlight shapes daily rhythms - Nov 23, 2010
- Scientists model 3D structures of body clock-controlling proteins - Apr 11, 2009
- Resetting biological clock may stop breast cancer in its tracks - Apr 28, 2010
- Chemical that regulates circadian rhythm identified - Nov 08, 2009
Tags: biochemical test, biological processes, bipolar, circadian clock, circadian rhythms, fruit flies, fungi, human protein, hypotheses, jet lag, light exposure, light signal, millisecond, molecular signals, national academy of sciences, proceedings of the national academy, proceedings of the national academy of sciences, school of medicine, sleep disorders, university of north carolina