Kurzfassung

The retina of mammals anticipates the 24-hour alternation of light and dark through distinctive daily changes in its gene expression, physiology and morphology. For this, a molecular oscillator localised in the photoreceptor is essential, and from here the daily adaptation of the retina is controlled by the hormone melatonin. Within the project the molecular oscillator of the photoreceptor cells is being characterised with regard to its functionality and its significance for the cell’s own...The retina of mammals anticipates the 24-hour alternation of light and dark through distinctive daily changes in its gene expression, physiology and morphology. For this, a molecular oscillator localised in the photoreceptor is essential, and from here the daily adaptation of the retina is controlled by the hormone melatonin. Within the project the molecular oscillator of the photoreceptor cells is being characterised with regard to its functionality and its significance for the cell’s own gene expression. The results show that the oscillator of the photoreceptor cell- with respect to the intrinsic rhythm of its molecular components (clock gene) – differs from all of the other known oscillators which it, in addition to its significance for the photoreceptor cell and the retina, makes it an interesting model system for the functioning of molecular oscillators.
The project is being supported intramurally.
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