Analysis of circadian clock mechanism and light-entarinmet in photoreceptor and circadian osilator cells in a higher animals.

地球上的所有生物都暴露在地球自转和公转所产生的循环环境因素中。他们有一个生物钟来适应这些循环的环境。这种生物钟调节各种生理功能的昼夜节律或昼夜节律。本研究的目的是探讨生物钟如何调节机体的生理节律，以及昼夜节律振荡器与摄食调节器之间的关系，鸟类松果体具有生物钟、光感受器和褪黑素合成能力，三者共同作用。因此，有人认为褪黑激素调节生物节律。褪黑激素可引起家雀和日本鹌鹑体温下降和自发活动抑制。这些结果表明，松果体在夜间分泌的褪黑素抑制运动活动，降低体温，导致休息时间。我们发现生长激素释放肽（ghrelin）是一种有效的食物摄入刺激剂，而神经介肽U（neuromedin U）是食物摄入抑制剂。因此，我们研究了它们对生物钟的影响。神经介肽U以时间依赖的方式引起昼夜节律的相移。免疫组化结果显示，神经介肽U阳性细胞位于视交叉上核，视交叉上核是昼夜节律振荡器。这些结果表明，神经介肽U可能参与调节摄食和昼夜振荡系统。

The all living organisms in the earth are exposed to cyclic environmental factors which are produced by earth's rotation and revolution. They had a biological clock to adapt to these cyclic environments. This biological clock regulate the circadian or circanual rhythms of various physiological functions. The purpose of this study is to examine how circadian clock regulate the physiological rhythm, and to examine the relationship between the circadian oscillator and regulator of food intake.The avian pineal gland posses the circadian clock, photoreceptor and melatonin synthetic capacity, and these three components are rinks all together. Therefore it has been assumed that melatonin regulate the biological rhythm. The administration of melatonin caused decrease of body temperature and inhibition of locomotor activity in house sparrow and Japanese quail. These results suggest that melatonin secretion from pineal gland during night time inhibits the locomotor activity and decrease body temperature, results in resting time.We discovered that ghrelin, a GH stimulating hormone, is a potent stimulator of food intake, and that neuromedin U is a inhibitor of food intake. Therefore, we examined the effect of them on the biological clock. The neuromedin U caused phase-shift of circadian rhythm in the time-dependent manner. Further, Immunohystochemistly revealed that immunostained cells for neuromedin U locate in suprachiasmatic nucleus which is circadian oscillator. Theses results indicate that neuromedin U may be involved in both regulation of food-intake and circadian oscillation system.