食物信号钟

Food-Entrainable Clock

生物钟是指生物体自身具有的一种自主时间调控机制,这种机制能使生物体感知并适应环境中的光、食物和温度等周期信号.限时饮食动物能预期饮食时间,并表现出食物预期性活动、体温上升以及皮质酮分泌等.这些食物预期性节律被认为是受食物信号钟(FEC)控制的.研究表明,食物信号钟可能是由一个或者多个整合在一起的震荡子组成的生理结构,它控制着各种食物信号相关的生理节律.本文综述了食物信号钟存在的可能位点、与其相关的生物钟基因以及参与生物钟信号输入输出相关的神经化学信号通路.

Circadian clocks are autonomous time-keeping mechanisms that allow living organisms to predict and adapt to environmental signals, such as light, food and temperature. Animals administrated by restricted feeding can predict feeding time, as revealed by anticipatory bouts of locomotor activity, changes in body temperature and secretion of plasma corticosterone. These food anticipatory rhythms have long been thought to be under the control of a food-entrainable clock （FEC）. However, it is still not clear whether the FEC is a central oscillator or is composed of several oscillators that control the feeding related circadian rhythms. This article briefly reviews the recent progress on FEC studies including the site housing, or the network underlying FEC, the relevance of some, but not all of the clock genes for FEC, and several neurochemical pathways that are likely to participate in conveying inputs to and outputs from the FEC to control anticipatory processes.