Pacemaker cells are specialized cell types that drive biological rhythms like the heartbeat and intestinal peristalsis. What determines whether a cell functions as a pacemaker? Studies in Caenorhabditis elegans suggest that pacemaking activity may be controlled in part by microRNAs.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.024 | DOI Listing |
Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol
January 2025
Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain.
Maintaining homeostasis is essential for continued health, and the progressive decay of homeostatic processes is a hallmark of ageing. Daily environmental rhythms threaten homeostasis, and circadian clocks have evolved to execute physiological processes in a manner that anticipates, and thus mitigates, their effects on the organism. Clocks are active in almost all cell types; their rhythmicity and functional output are determined by a combination of tissue-intrinsic and systemic inputs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrends Cogn Sci
January 2025
Machine Learning in Science, Excellence Cluster Machine Learning and Tübingen AI Center, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. Electronic address:
Various neuroscientific theories maintain that brain oscillations are important for neuronal computation, but opposing views claim that these macroscale dynamics are 'exhaust fumes' of more relevant processes. Here, we approach the question of whether oscillations are functional or epiphenomenal by distinguishing between measurements and processes, and by reviewing whether causal or inferentially useful links exist between field potentials, electric fields, and neurobiological events. We introduce a vocabulary for the role of brain signals and their underlying processes, demarcating oscillations as a distinct entity where both processes and measurements can exhibit periodicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomed Pharmacother
January 2025
Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00161, Italy. Electronic address:
The abundance and behaviour of all hematopoietic components display daily oscillations, supporting the involvement of circadian clock mechanisms. The daily variations of immune cell functions, such as trafficking between blood and tissues, differentiation, proliferation, and effector capabilities are regulated by complex intrinsic (cell-based) and extrinsic (neuro-hormonal, organism-based) mechanisms. While the role of the transcriptional/translational molecular machinery, driven by a set of well-conserved genes (Clock genes), in nucleated immune cells is increasingly recognized and understood, the presence of non-transcriptional mechanisms remains almost entirely unexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcotoxicol Environ Saf
January 2025
National Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health Security, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Haidian, Beijing 100193, China. Electronic address:
Obesity is a contributing factor that increases the likelihood of developing chronic kidney disease. In recent years, studies have found that light pollution worldwide promoted obesity, which was known to be a consequence of circadian rhythm disruption. Nevertheless, the impact of light pollution on kidney disease associated with obesity remains mostly unknown, and potential processes have been minimally investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Chem Soc
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Burke Laboratory, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, United States.
Self-organization under out-of-equilibrium conditions is ubiquitous in natural systems for the generation of hierarchical solid-state patterns of complex structures with intricate properties. Efforts in applying this strategy to synthetic materials that mimic biological function have resulted in remarkable demonstrations of programmable self-healing and adaptive materials. However, the extension of these efforts to multifunctional stimuli-responsive solid-state materials across defined spatial distributions remains an unrealized technological opportunity.
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