Clock genes in mammalian circadian pacemaker

The behavior of mammals and their physiological processes are dependent on the daily rhythms. These rhythms are controlled by an endogenous circadian clock that responds to light/dark cycles of environment. In mammals, the circadian clocks, are arranged hierarchically, and work in almost all cells and tissues. Suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in the hypothalamus are at the top of the hierarchy and work as a major circadian pacemaker. This work presents the clock genes that have been discovered in the last twenty years in the SCN of mammals. The first chapter focuses on the general mechanism of circadian rhythms and structure of the SCN. The second chapter describes the transcriptional-translational feedback loops that are an essential part of the proper function of the circadian clock, and function of individual genes is briefly introduced in this chapter. The following chapters already include a chronological characterization of Clock, Bmal1, Period and Cryptochrome genes, as they were discovered. If the clock gene expresses different function from the clockwork mechanism, it is briefly introduced in the final paragraph on the chapter. The final chapters deal with other molecules, casein kinases, ROR and REV-ERB receptors that affect its function expression and degradation of circadian genes in the..