People are increasingly staring at device screens which emit predominantly blue light. Because LED technology is relatively new, we do not know what effects blue light has on our long-term health. Blue light exposure leads to a dramatic decrease in longevity in Drosophila, thus this study aims to explore possible...
Circadian clocks coordinate molecular, cellular, physiological, and behavioral processes with the 24-hour solar day. While clock functions are well understood in young animals, it is not clear how aging or neurodegenerative disease affects the various levels of the circadian system. A common symptom of many neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease...
Aging is a complex biological phenomenon that alters many different physiological processes. Although many age-related phenotypes, such as neurodegeneration, weakening circadian rhythms, and inflammaging, are well-studied, the links between them are not. To elucidate these links we created an inflammation-like state in Drosophila melanogaster by overexpressing Relish (Rel), an NFκB...
All organisms possess circadian clocks, which generate daily oscillations in clock controlled gene expression that regulate many essential biological functions in synchrony with the 24-hour light/dark cycles. When the genes that control the internal clock are weakened, accelerated aging symptoms are observed. Past research in Drosophila demonstrated that aging flies...
Circadian rhythms are the daily oscillations in multiple organism functions, from clock gene expression to behavior. Lost or irregular rhythms lead to health problems later in life including nervous system disorders, abnormal sleep/activity cycles, diabetes and obesity. However, it is not known whether strengthening the expression of clock genes throughout...
Circadian clocks are endogenous molecular mechanisms that coordinate daily rhythms in gene expression, cellular activities, and physiological functions with external day/night cycles. Breakdown of circadian rhythms such as sleep/wake cycles is associated with the onset of several neurological diseases; however, it is not clear whether disruption of rhythms is a...
.
________________________________________________________________________
Kuntol Rakshit, Author
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I thank Dr. JadwigaM. Giebultowicz for her
Daily (circadian) rhythms exist at molecular, physiological, and behavioral levels and coordinate many life functions. This coordination is believed to contribute to an organism's fitness, however, such contributions have not been convincingly demonstrated in any animal. The most significant measure of fitness is the reproductive output of the individual and...
Circadian clocks are internal mechanisms regulating many physiological processes.
Research suggests that the circadian clock may regulate repair of cellular damage caused
by reactive oxygen species (ROS), but molecular pathways from the clock to ROS repair
are not known. The gene cncC, known in mammals as Nrf2, and its repressor...
The free-radical theory of aging proposes that intracellular accumulation of oxidative damage caused by
reactive oxygen species (ROS) is responsible for the process of senescence. ROS are produced during
normal aerobic metabolism and have been shown to cause numerous cellular and sub-cellular defects
that lead to termination of the cell...
Blue light exposure has been on the rise over the past several years as artificial light in the form of light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been increasing. These LEDs emit predominantly blue light through TVs, computer monitors, smartphones, tablets etc. Previous research in our lab determined that blue light accelerated...
