The Neurogenetics of Circadian Rhythms: Implications for Health and Disease

The basic mechanism of circadian clocks has been elucidated with elegant genetic analyses in mice, fruit flies, the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, and cyanobacteria, and important insights have also come from analysis of human genetic variants. The circadian clock is produced by different proteins across the phylogenetic tree, but transcriptional and post-translational regulation of core clock transcription factors, which in turn regulate hundreds of circadian output genes that contribute to daily cycles of behavior and physiology, is a general feature. Sleep, metabolism, body temperature, hormones, learning/memory and immunity all have inputs from the circadian clock. When the inputs are abnormal disease can be the outcome. This series will discuss the role of the clock in regulating healthy and pathological biological outcomes.
Circadian rhythms have only recently been considered in treatment of disease, and even now there is limited consideration of circadian treatment options. Moreover, there is still only a cursory understanding of the multiple circadian inputs on health and disease. This series will review and expand our knowledge of circadian mechanisms that regulate diverse outputs, including the effects of genetic variation on circadian rhythmicity.
Research and review articles will be accepted. The topics can range from basic mechanisms for circadian regulation of biological processes to more clinically focused areas.