Clock Gene Regulation of Endocrine Function

Hormones of diverse endocrine systems fluctuate in a regular fashion throughout the 24 h day, providing a high degree of temporal organization within the endocrine milieu of the organism. While it has been known that these diurnal fluctuations are under the control of a central circadian clock located in the master neuroendocrine regulator of the brain, the hypothalamus, only recently has the molecular transcriptional-translational feedback loop that gives rise to the generation of 24 h signals at the cellular level been uncovered. Our understanding of how alterations in circadian clock gene function can lead to changes in 24 h hormonal patterns is at only an early stage, but these early studies indicate that such alterations could underlie diverse endocrine pathophysiologies.