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OSCILLATOR NEURONS. “Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) "itself is composed of ~20,000 neurons, each of which is thought to contain a cell autonomous circadian oscillator. The SCN functions as a network in which the population of SCN cells are coupled together and oscillate in a coherent manner." https://lnkd.in/dBQ96E6 View in LinkedIn

EMBEDDED CLOCKS. “Throughout the majority of the cells in the body, cell autonomous circadian clocks are intimately enmeshed within metabolic pathways.” https://lnkd.in/dBQ96E6 View in LinkedIn

ANATOMICAL LOCUS. “In the central suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus, a coupled population of neuronal circadian oscillators acts as a master pacemaker for the organism to drive rhythms in activity and rest, feeding, body temperature and hormones. Coupling within the SCN network confers robustness to the SCN pacemaker which in turn provides stability to the overall temporal architecture of the organism.” https://lnkd.in/dBQ96E6 View in LinkedIn

TRIPARTITE OSCILLATORS. “The mammalian circadian system is organized around three major physiological components: an input pathway by which environmental cues (most importantly light) are transmitted to the central or 'master' pacemaker, the central pacemaker itself, and finally a set of output pathways by which the central pacemaker regulates circadian rhythms throughout the body.” https://lnkd.in/d3X7KfC View in LinkedIn

KEY CLOCK GENES. “Core clock components are defined as genes with protein products that are essential for the generation and regulation of circadian rhythms. Ablation of any of the core clock genes, Clock or Bmal1, Per1 or Per2, or Cry1 or Cry2, disrupts circadian physiology.” https://lnkd.in/dH6Ha79 View in LinkedIn

DEEPLY INGRAINED. “The circadian system is involved in maintaining energy homeostasis. Approximately 10% of the mammalian transcriptome display circadian oscillations. Among the rhythmic genes identified, many have a specific role in coordinating nutrient metabolism. For example, glucose transporters and the glucagon receptor, as well as multiple enzymes involved in the metabolism of sugars and the biosynthesis of cholesterols, are rhythmically expressed.” https://lnkd.in/dH6Ha79 View in LinkedIn

CLOCK MECHANISM. “The circadian clock is driven by an autoregulatory feedback loop. CLOCK and BMAL1 form a heterodimer that induces expression of Per and Cry through E-box enhancers. PER and CRY proteins accumulate in the cytoplasm throughout the circadian day. CK GENES. “Upon reaching critical levels, PER and CRY form a complex that translocates back to the nucleus to associate with CLOCK and BMAL1 and repress their own transcription. This process takes approximately 24 hours to complete a full cycle.” https://lnkd.in/dH6Ha79 View in LinkedIn

MAGNIFICENT CLOCKS. “Across phyla, all circadian clocks share several fundamental properties: they are synchronized (entrained) each day to external cues, they are self-sustained and produce oscillations that persist in the absence of any external cues, they are temperature compensated such that temperature changes in the physiological range do not alter their endogenous period, and of particular relevance to this review, they are cell-autonomous and genetically-determined.” https://lnkd.in/d3X7KfC View in LinkedIn

CLOCK TRANSCRIPTION. “In mammals, the mechanism of the circadian clock is cell autonomous and arises from an autoregulatory negative feedback transcriptional network. At the core of this clock network are the transcriptional activators, CLOCK (and its paralog, NPAS2) and BMAL1.” https://lnkd.in/dBQ96E6 View in LinkedIn