INSTITUTE OF PHYSIOLOGY CAS

Please, consider filing out anonymous questionnaire regarding your chronotype and social jet lag.

In the center of our interest is the endogenous time-keeping system, circadian clock of mammals, including humans. The system temporally regulates rhythmic processes in our body so that they take place at the proper time of day and are optimally synchronized relative to each other.

A failure of the temporal regulation has a negative impact on human health. Using in vivo and in vitro models, we study the molecular mechanisms underlying the circadian clock as well as the resulting physiological and behavioral rhythms.

We focus on the following questions:

What are the mechanisms for entraining (synchronizing) the circadian system and what are the consequences of its failure?
How does the circadian system develop and how is it being entrained during ontogeny?
How is the circadian system of humans entrained in real life conditions, both in health and in disease?

Fig. PER2 protein in the prenatal and early postnatal SCN, ex vivo luminescence microscopy.

Projects

Circadian clock and mechanisms of entrainment

We explore the entrainment of the circadian clock and its disorders on various experimental models in vivo and in vitro. More

The ontogenesis of the biological clock of laboratory rat

The mammalian biological clock initiates its ontogenesis already during embryonic development in the maternal uterus. Newborn mammals are equipped with clock running in accordance with the maternal clock. We focus on investigating when and how do the newborn clock develop and entrain. More

The biological timing system in healthy volunteers and patients with neuropsychiatric disorders

Research in our laboratory focuses on the timing system not only in healthy volunteers but also in patients suffering from disorders associated with disrupted sleep pattern. The aim of our projects is to find connections between the functional state of the timing system and those disorders. More

Achievements

New publication (IF=7.3): The circadian clock in the choroid plexus drives rhythms in multiple cellular processes under the control of the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Fluids and Barriers of the CNS (2024)

Martin Sládek, Pavel Houdek, Jihwan Myung, Kateryna Semenovykh, Tereza Dočkal, Alena Sumová. Fluids Barriers CNS. 2024 May 27;21(1):46. doi: 10.1186/s12987-024-00547-3. More

New publication (IF=15): Circadian clock in choroid plexus is resistant to immune challenge but dampens in response to chronodisruption. Brain Behav Immun (2024)

Milica Drapšin, Tereza Dočkal, Pavel Houdek, Martin Sládek, Kateryna Semenovykh, Alena Sumová. Brain Behav Immun. 2024 Jan 25:S0889-1591(24)00229-0. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.01.217. More

New pulblication (IF=6.3): Population-representative study reveals cardiovascular and metabolic disease biomarkers associated with misaligned sleep schedules. Sleep (2023)

Martin Sládek, Jan Klusáček, Dana Hamplová and Alena Sumová. Sleep 2023 Feb 24, 10.1093/sleep/zsad037. Social jetlag, or chronic misalignment between biological and social time, is the most common disturbance of circadian rhythms in modern society. More

New publication (IF=7.4): Lithium affects the circadian clock in the choroid plexus – A new role for an old mechanism. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy (2023)

Karolína Liška, Tereza Dočkal, Pavel Houdek, Martin Sládek, Vendula Lužná, Kateryna Semenovykh, Milica Drapšin and Alena Sumová. Lithium affects the circadian clock in the choroid plexus – A new role for an old mechanism. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 159 (2023), 114292 More

New publication (IF=9.6): Early rhythmicity in the fetal suprachiasmatic nuclei in response to maternal signals detected by omics approach. Greiner P, Houdek P, Sládek M, Sumová A (2022) PLoS Biol 20(5): e3001637.

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001637.g005. Our results indicate the importance of a well-functioning maternal biological clock in providing rhythmic environment during the fetal brain development. More

Publications

Drapšin; Milica - Dočkal; Tereza - Houdek; Pavel - Sládek; Martin - Semenovykh; Kateryna - Sumová; Alena . Circadian clock in choroid plexus is resistant to immune challenge but dampens in response to chronodisruption . Brain Behavior and Immunity. 2024; 117(March); 255-269 . IF = 15.1 [ASEP] [ doi ]

Sládek; Martin - Klusáček; Jan - Hamplová; Dana - Sumová; Alena . Population-representative study reveals cardiovascular and metabolic disease biomarkers associated with misaligned sleep schedules . Sleep. 2023; 46(6)); zsad037 . IF = 5.6 [ASEP] [ doi ]

Liška; Karolína - Dočkal; Tereza - Houdek; Pavel - Sládek; Martin - Lužná; Vendula - Semenovykh; Kateryna - Drapšin; Milica - Sumová; Alena . Lithium affects the circadian clock in the choroid plexus – A new role for an old mechanism . Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 2023; 159(March)); 114292 . IF = 7.5 [ASEP] [ doi ]

Honzlová; Petra - Sumová; Alena . Metabolic regulation of the circadian clock in classically and alternatively activated macrophages . Immunology and Cell Biology. 2023; 101(5); 428-443 . IF = 4.0 [ASEP] [ doi ]

Honzlová; Petra - Semenovykh; Kateryna - Sumová; Alena . The Circadian Clock of Polarized Microglia and Its Interaction with Mouse Brain Oscillators . Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology. 2023; 43(3); 1319-1333 . IF = 4.0 [ASEP] [ doi ]

	RNDr. Pavel Houdek scientist
	Milica Drapšin PhD student
	Dmytro Semenovykh PhD student
	Kateryna Semenovykh PhD student
	Tereza Dočkal PhD student
	Eva Tlustá technician

Laboratory of Biological Rhythms