Protein Shown To Rally Biological Clock: 'Pony Express' Protein

Complexity Digest 2006.49 - 18.01

04-Dec-2006

Protein Shown To Rally Biological Clock: 'Pony Express' Protein, Innovations-report

Excerpts: A biologist at Washington University in St. Louis and his collaborators have identified the factor in mammalian brain cells that keeps cells in synchrony so that functions like the wake-sleep cycle, hormone secretion and loco motor behaviors are coordinated daily over a 24-hour period. (...) have determined that VIP - vasoactive intestinal polypeptide - is the rallying protein that signals the brain's biological clock to coordinate daily rhythms in behavior and physiology. The finding clarifies the roles that both VIP and a neurotransmitter GABA play in synchronizing biological clocks, and sheds light on how mammals, in this case mice and rats, regulate circadian rhythm. (...)

Source: Protein Shown To Rally Biological Clock: 'Pony Express' Protein
[ http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/report-75222.html ], Innovations-report, 2006/12/01
Contributed by Atin Das - dasatinyahoo.co.in