ANION-DRIVEN CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN CK1δ REGULATE CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS
Physical and Biological Sciences
Chemistry senior thesis
Circadian rhythms are patterns of behavior and physiology that oscillate with a ~24-hour periodicity in the absence of external stimuli but are synchronized to an exact 24-hour cycle in accordance with the solar day. Circadian rhythms are found in nearly all eukaryotes where they enable organisms to anticipate regular changes in their external environment. Temporal regulation of metabolism and gene transcription allow organisms to conserve energy. In mammals, behavioral and physiological changes are established on a cellular level by a molecular clock, consisting of proteins that regulate gene transcription. Two proteins, PER2 and CK1ẟ, are crucial for generating and regulating the molecular clock. In this thesis, I studied the interaction between these two proteins in order to gain a better understanding of how the molecular clock is regulated and thus how circadian rhythms are established.
