Discover the mysterious mechanism of the human body clock

Scientists have discovered exactly how the human body's biological clock works and claim the discovery could mean an end to jet lag and even help fight cancer.

Illustration: Internet

Two researchers, Aziz Sancar and Sarah Graham Kenan, experts in the field of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of North Carolina (USA), said that two genes named Period and Cryptochrome are responsible for keeping the biological clocks in every cell of the human body running on time and in rhythm with the 24-hour day as well as the seasons of the year.

"It has taken us a long time to understand how the genes that control the human body's clock interact," the authors of the new study note. "We knew that there were four proteins involved in generating the circadian rhythm, but we didn't know exactly what they did. Now that we know how the clock is set in every cell, we can have a better idea of ​​what would happen if we targeted these proteins with therapeutic approaches."

In all human cells, four genes, Cryptochrome, Period, CLOCK, and BMAL1, work together to control cyclical changes in our body's physiological functions, such as blood pressure, body temperature, and sleep-rest cycles.

Scientists have previously discovered that CLOCK and BMAL1 work together to activate the body’s clock. These genes bind to many other genes and cause them to express proteins that allow cells, such as brain cells, to behave the way we need them to at the start of a new day.

In particular, CLOCK and BMAL1 bind to the Period and Cryptochrome gene pairs, forcing them to express proteins. After several adjustments, Period and Cryptochrome turn around and inhibit the activity of CLOCK and BMAL1. The Period and Cryptochrome proteins then degrade, allowing the biological clock to reset.

According to Sancar, who discovered Cryptochrome in 1998, this is a feedback loop. The inhibition lasts for 24 hours. This is why we can see the activity of genes increase and decrease during the day.

The discovery could be used to develop drugs to treat diseases such as cancer, diabetes, insomnia, metabolic disorders, obesity, or even jet lag. For example, anti-cancer drugs could target the biological clock in cancer cells to make other treatments more effective.

According to vietnamnet