13 research outputs found
How Coupling Determines the Entrainment of Circadian Clocks
Autonomous circadian clocks drive daily rhythms in physiology and behaviour.
A network of coupled neurons, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), serves as a
robust self-sustained circadian pacemaker. Synchronization of this timer to the
environmental light-dark cycle is crucial for an organism's fitness. In a
recent theoretical and experimental study it was shown that coupling governs
the entrainment range of circadian clocks. We apply the theory of coupled
oscillators to analyse how diffusive and mean-field coupling affects the
entrainment range of interacting cells. Mean-field coupling leads to amplitude
expansion of weak oscillators and, as a result, reduces the entrainment range.
We also show that coupling determines the rigidity of the synchronized SCN
network, i.e. the relaxation rates upon perturbation. %(Floquet exponents). Our
simulations and analytical calculations using generic oscillator models help to
elucidate how coupling determines the entrainment of the SCN. Our theoretical
framework helps to interpret experimental data
Keeping the Beat in the Rising Heat
10.1016/j.cell.2009.04.051Cell1374602-604CELL
Reversible protein phosphorylation regulates circadian rhythms
10.1101/sqb.2007.72.048Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology72413-420CSHS