Melanopsin ve cryptochrome proteinleri arasındaki etkileşimin hesaplamalı araştırması

Circadian rhythms are oscillations in the biochemical, physiological, and behavioralfunctions of organisms that occur with a periodicity of approximately 24 hours. Inmammals, circadian rhythm is generated by a molecular clock. The molecular clock,which is located at suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) part of brain, is synchronized byenvironmental light-dark cycle.The cryptochromes are the mammalian circadian photoreceptors; they absorb light andtransmit the signal to the molecular clock. The cryptochromes and melanopsin (andpossibly other opsin family pigments) have been proposed as circadian photoreceptorpigments that exist in the inner retina. Experimental studies imply that there is mostprobably an interaction between melanopsin and cryptochromes for molecular clock tofunction normally. In order to uncover this interaction; the tertiary structures ofMelanopsin and Cryptochrome; the possible interaction between those two proteins havebeen predicted by usage of different computational means.The results of this study imply that mammalian Melanopsin and Cryptochrome proteinsinteract. The N-termini of Cryptchrome protein interacts with C-termini and cytoplasmictails of Melanopsin protein. The in vivo interaction is supported by preliminaryflourescent microscopy technique.