Dissection of Mammalian Biological Clock System at a Molecular Level

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24227001
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Animal physiology/Animal behavior
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Fukada Yoshitaka 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科(理学部), 教授 (80165258)
• Research Collaborator: KOJIMA Daisuke 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科, 講師 (60376530) ; SHIMIZU Kimiko 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科, 助教 (50451828) ; YOSHITANE Hikari 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科, 助教 (70569920) ; SHIRAKI Tomoya 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科, 特任助教 (40632352) ; TORII Masaki 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科, 特任研究員 (10586407) ; TERAJIMA Hideki 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科, 特任研究員
• Project Period (FY): 2012-10-26 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 脳・神経 / 網膜 / 光 / シグナル伝達 / サーカディアンリズム / 転写因子 / リン酸化 / ユビキチン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Most living organisms show a variety of rhythms by virtue of having an intrinsic time-measuring system. This system is called circadian clock entrainable to daily changes in the internal and environmental conditions such as light-dark cycle. In mammals, the central clock resides in the hypothalamic suprachismatic nucleus (SCN), and its output signal play significant roles in maintenance of brain functions. This research project aimed to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the circadian clock oscillation together with its input and output regulation. The major outcomes follow: 1) We identified several key molecules in the input pathway. 2) We found that the SCN clock governs brain peripheral clocks that regulate long-term memory formation and anxiety-like behaviors via SCOP, and 3) we found essential roles of new clock components such as FBXL3/21 and ADAR2 that are important for post-translational and post-transcriptional regulation.

Free Research Field

生物学