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Science 25 October 2002:
Vol. 298. no. 5594, p. 699
DOI: 10.1126/science.298.5594.699p
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This Week in Science
The reiterated structures of the vertebrate axial skeleton and muscles are derived from the metameric structure of somites. It has been shown that messenger RNAs (mRNAs) of Notch signaling molecules such as Hes1 oscillate in 2-hour cycles during somite segmentation. However, the molecular mechanism of such oscillation remains unknown. Hirata et al. (p. 840) now describe the oscillation of Hes1 mRNA and protein in cultured cells after serum treatment. This oscillation requires Hes1 protein synthesis and degradation and relies on the negative autoregulation of Hes1 mRNA synthesis by Hes1 protein. Hence, this work indicates that Hes1 represents a 2-hour cycle clock gene. Furthermore, because Hes1 oscillation occurs in many cell types, this clock may apply to several biological processes as well as to somite segmentation.
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)
