About Circadian Clocks in Health and Disease

Circadian clocks are endogenous timekeeping mechanisms found in organisms from all kingdoms of life. These clocks coordinate vast programs of gene expression that allow organisms from bacteria to humans to organize their physiology and behaviour in optimal temporal relationships with the daily environmental cycles of light and dark. In the last two decades, scientists have made remarkable inroads into dissecting the molecular mechanisms that make up these clocks and how they drive rhythmic processes. In doing so, it has become evident that proper clock function is critical for optimal health and that many diseases are exacerbated by poorly functioning clocks. Despite the progress in understanding these timing systems, there is much more to learn. Therefore, we seek to bring together a collection of articles from scientists around the world that provide new insight into the roles of circadian clocks in immune function, metabolism, cancer, neuronal function and behaviour. 

Keywords: Circadian clock; circadian rhythm; circadian oscillation; circadian pacemaker; diurnal rhythms; phase response curve; temperature compensation; entrainment; phase shift; jet lag; shift work; chronotype; actigraphy; advanced sleep phase disorder (ASPD); delayed sleep phase disorder (ASPD); non-24-hour sleep disorder; chronotherapy; suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN); intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cell (ipRGC); pineal gland; melatonin; clock gene; Bmal1 (Arntl) gene; period gene; cryptochrome gene; melanopsin gene

This collection is part of the Cell & Molecular Biology Gateway.

Any questions about this collection? Please get in contact directly with research@f1000.com.