Open AccessCell-autonomous clock of astrocytes drives circadian behavior in mammals
Author(s) -
Marco Brancaccio,
Mathew D. Edwards,
Andrew P. Patton,
Nicola J. Smyllie,
Johanna E. Chesham,
Elizabeth S. Maywood,
Michael H. Hastings
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 12.556
H-Index - 1186
eISSN - 1095-9203
pISSN - 0036-8075
DOI - 10.1126/science.aat4104
Subject(s) - suprachiasmatic nucleus , circadian rhythm , biology , neuroscience , glutamatergic , light effects on circadian rhythm , circadian clock , microbiology and biotechnology , clock , bacterial circadian rhythms , glutamate receptor , receptor , genetics
Astrocytes can drive the master clock in the brain The neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus function as a central circadian clock, coordinating mammalian physiology with the 24-hour light-dark cycle. Brancaccioet al. found that these neurons have help from neighboring astrocytes (see the Perspective by Green). In mice lacking theCry gene, which encodes a critical clock component, restoration ofCry expression and molecular clock function in the astrocytes, but not the neighboring neurons, restored rhythmic transcriptional oscillations in the SCN and reestablished circadian behaviors in the mice.Science , this issue p.187 ; see also p.124
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