A protein fold switch joins the circadian oscillator to clock output in cyanobacteria

Abstract

Circadian clocks keep organisms in synch with such daily cycles as illumination, activity, and food availability. The circadian clock in cyanobacteria has the necessary 24-hour period despite its three component proteins having biochemical activities that occur on a much faster time scale. Abe et al. focused on the cyanobacterial clock component KaiC, an adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) that can autophosphorylate and autodephosphorylate. The slow ATPase activity of KaiC, which is linked to a peptide isomerisation, provided the slow kinetics that set the speed of the 24-hour clock. Chang et al. found that another clock component, KaiB, also has slow changes in its protein conformation that help to set the oscillation period of the clock and its signaling output.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jul 17, 2015
Source ID
10.1126/science.1260031

Entities

People

  • Andy LiWang
  • Connie Phong
  • David Lee
  • Jenny Lin
  • Joseph S. Boyd
  • Li Zhang
  • Michael J. Rust
  • R. David Britt
  • Roger Tseng
  • Shannon Kang
  • Sheng Li
  • Susan E Cohen
  • Susan Golden
  • William K. Myers
  • Yong-Gang Chang
  • Yong-ick Kim
  • Yvonne Lee

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • American Cancer Society
  • Army Research Office
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Science Foundation
  • University of California
  • University of California, San Diego
  • University of Chicago

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Cardiovascular Physiology
  • Circadian Sleep-Wake Regulation and Chronobiology
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics