High amplitude phase resetting in rev-erbalpha/per1 double mutant mice.

ABSTRACT: Over time, organisms developed various strategies to adapt to their environment. Circadian clocks are thought to have evolved to adjust to the predictable rhythms of the light-dark cycle caused by the rotation of the Earth around its own axis. The rhythms these clocks generate persist even in the absence of environmental cues with a period of about 24 hours. To tick in time, they continuously synchronize themselves to the prevailing photoperiod by appropriate phase shifts. In this study, we disrupted two molecular components of the mammalian circadian oscillator, Rev-Erbalpha and Period1 (Per1). We found that mice lacking these genes displayed robust circadian rhythms with significantly shorter periods under constant darkness conditions. Strikingly, they showed high amplitude resetting in

SUBMITTER: Jud C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2932729 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature