Lay Abstract PI: Siwicki, Kathleen K. Proposal Number: IBN-9723920 From our own sleep-wake cycle to the chirping of crickets on summer evenings, examples of circadian (daily) rhythms in behavior are abundant in nature. These rhythms are driven by internal biological clocks in the nervous system that are synchronized with the daily cycles of light and temperature in the environment. In the past decade, researchers have deciphered the basic mechanism by which biological clocks keep time: the clock's central gears are genes that turn on and off every day. While rhythmic behaviors and clock genes have been identified in a variety of organisms, the cellular mechanisms by which clock genes produce their behavioral effects are relatively obscure. This project examines the mechanisms by which clock genes act within cells and tissues to produce circadian rhythms of behavior. Experiments allow for direct studies of cells regulating rhythmic behavior and how the properties of those cells are regulated by the clock genes within them. These studies represent a significant step towards understanding the physiological mechanisms by which clock genes and the cells that express them can interact to generate circadian rhythms in behavior.
