Scientists have discovered a protein that regulates a biological clock
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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The protein, called QUASIMODO, reports the internal biological clock on the current time of day.
It is known that every living organism has a built-in biological clock that matches its biochemistry, physiology and behavior with the time of day. It is intuitively clear that these clocks should somehow synchronize with the duration of the daylight, that is, rely on information perceived by the visual receptors. The scientist from Queen Mary's College of London University managed to find a protein that tells our inner clock, the day is now on the street or the night.
Prof. Ralph Stanevski and his group spent more than one year studying the system of regulation of circadian rhythm; A fruit fly of the fruit fly served as a model object for the researchers. Previously, scientists discovered a special photoreceptor protein cryptochrome, which works only with neurons belonging to the system of biological clocks. Analyzing the functioning of the cryptochrome receptor, the authors concluded that there must be another mechanism by which our internal clocks are checked against real time. Studies in this direction led to the discovery of a protein called QUASIMODO (QSM).
It turned out that the synthesis of this protein is greatly enhanced in response to light. QUASIMODO was found to be bound by negative feedback to another circadian protein, TIMELESS (TIM): an increase in the first content reduced the concentration of the second.
From a report published in the journal Current Biology, it follows that fluctuations in the TIMELESS protein reflect the time of day; it is this protein that tells the fruit flies that it's time to sleep or, conversely, "lead an active lifestyle." But the switch for TIMELESS itself is QUASIMODO, which reacts to light and, thus, is the "time standard": it is with its help that the insect brain distinguishes day by night.
If the usual fruit flies in constant light fell into a "daily arrythmia", their activity was supported by QUASIMODO; Drosophila with the QSM gene turned off demonstrated cyclicity in the TIMELESS protein synthesis and the corresponding behavior. According to the researchers, such a double system of daily rhythm regulation involving cryptochrome and QUASIMODO can take place not only in insects, but also in humans. If this is the case, then it is QUASIMODO that helps us to adjust to a new daily rhythm in travels between time zones.
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