Circadian clocks in human red blood cells

摘要: Circadian (∼24 hour) clocks are fundamentally important for coordinated physiology in organisms as diverse cyanobacteria and humans. All current models of the molecular circadian clockwork eukaryotic cells based on transcription–translation feedback loops. Non-transcriptional mechanisms have been difficult to study mammalian systems. We circumvented these problems by developing novel assays using human red blood cells, which no nucleus (or DNA) therefore cannot perform transcription. Our results show that transcription is not required oscillations humans, non-transcriptional events seem be sufficient sustain cellular rhythms. Using we found peroxiredoxins, highly conserved antioxidant proteins, undergo ∼24-hour redox cycles, persist many days under constant conditions (that is, absence external cues). Moreover, rhythms entrainable tunable environmental stimuli) temperature-compensated, both key features anticipate our findings will facilitate more sophisticated clock models, highlighting interdependency transcriptional potentially all cells. critical timing regulators behaviour ubiquitous eukaryotes. Most mechanistic but evidence post-translational regulation has recently surfaced plants cyanobacteria. Two groups now demonstrate a role oxidation peroxiredoxin proteins maintaining an oscillation unicellular alga Ostreococcus tauri. These data suggest open door future work exploring connections between machinery. this some This one two demonstrating alga. indicate