
is an Integrated Project (Sixth Framework Programme) funded by the
European Commission
Project Summary
The circadian clock is a basic biological process that enables
organisms to anticipate daily environmental changes by adjusting
behaviour, physiology and gene regulation. It impacts health and
quality of life in regulating sleep and well-being, in the consequences
of shift-work, in medical diagnosis/therapy, and in age-related
changes. A critical feature of the clock is its synchronisation to the
external day (entrainment). Entrainment is the key to understanding the
circadian clock and its control mechanisms.
In EUCLOCK, highly competitive European researchers join forces to investigate the circadian
clock under entrainment using the most advanced methods of functional
genomics and phenomics comparing powerful genetic model organisms
(humans, mice, flies, and yeast). Its four major innovations will shape
the future of circadian research:
To compare genomic and phenomic aspects of the clock, SOPs will be
developed for the first time that mimic aspects of the natural day
(dawn/dusk, day-lengths, etc.). Protocols, devices, and algorithms will
be developed enabling, for the first time, large-scale, noninvasive
research on human entrainment in the field.
We will develop the first animal models for shift-work, making animals ''work'' and feed out of
phase with their natural rhythms. The ensuing "dys-entrainment" will be investigated at all levels,
aiming to provide the insights needed to treat the symptoms and
consequences of human shift-work. Building on genome sequences, new
genetic components and interactions will be identified that control the
circadian clock and its entrainment. For the first time, the
experimental advantages of yeast will be extensively used. The
tractability of yeast permits integration and reconstruction of
elements and interactions gleaned from other systems.

Components of managing EUCLOCK