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- By testing on the flies, the researchers found that deleting the tango 10 gene disrupted their biological rhythms.
- Under normal conditions, Tango10 protein levels change over circadian time, which regulates neuronal activity and regulates the sleep–wake cycle.
The circadian rhythm organizes the biological functions of our body, from cells to organs. It is therefore essential not to disturb it to avoid causing dysfunctions in the body that may promote certain diseases, such as obesity or Alzheimer’s. American neurobiologists at Northwestern University have identified a new gene, called tango10, that is involved in a molecular pathway by which the central circadian clock modulates cell clock output to control the daily sleep-wake cycle. controls. He presented his results in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science,
A steady loss of rhythm without the gene
The discovery of the new gene could lead to treatments to help with sleep problems and shed light on diseases related to the internal clock, such as depression, neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic diseases. ,We wanted to better understand the molecular basis of the daily ‘wake-up signal’, which indicates that it is time to wake up., said Ravi Allada, professor of neurobiology, who led the study. In this study, we focused on pacemaker neurons that control the sleep-wake cycle and used genetic investigations to identify genes that control neurons.,
For their study, the authors looked at several genes that they believe may be important for the functioning and behavior of the circadian clock. He conducted his experiments on flies and ensured that the results were transferable to humans. Through this process, he discovered a gene called tango10. Eliminating this caused the fly to lose its normal behavior pattern for 24 hours. Some potassium currents are reduced and potentially result in overactive neurons and contribute to the loss of stable rhythm.
disrupted neuronal activity
Under normal conditions, Tango10 protein levels change over circadian time, which regulates neuronal activity and regulates the sleep–wake cycle. Without this protein the entire daily rhythm is disturbed. ,Our findings fill a molecular gap in our understanding of how the basic gears of a watch control the hands”, Avance Ravi Allada.