ABSTRACT
The Earth’s rotation generates environmental oscillations (e.g., in light and temperature) that have imposed unique evolutionary pressures over millions of years. Consequently, the circadian clock, a ubiquitously expressed molecular system that aligns cellular function to these environmental cues, has become an integral component of our physiology. The resulting functional rhythms optimize and economize physiological performance: perturbing these rhythms, therefore, is frequently deleterious. This perspective article focuses on circadian rhythms in resistance artery myogenic reactivity, a key mechanism governing tissue perfusion, total peripheral resistance and systemic blood pressure. Emerging evidence suggests that myogenic reactivity rhythms are locally generated in a microvascular bed-specific manner at the level of smooth muscle cells. This implies that there is a distinct interface between the molecular clock and the signalling pathways underlying myogenic reactivity in the microvascular beds of different organs. By understanding the precise nature of these molecular links, it may become possible to therapeutically manipulate microvascular tone in an organ-specific manner. This raises the prospect that interventions for vascular pathologies that are challenging to treat, such as hypertension and brain malperfusion, can be significantly improved.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Alexandra Erin Papaelias for graphic design and preparation of the figures. We thank Danny D Dinh and Chloe Ng for assistance with data collection.
Data availability statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary information file. All data can be made available by the corresponding author upon request.
Disclosure statement
DL and JTK are consultants for Qanatpharma AG (Stans, Switzerland). SSB is executive board member of Qanatpharma AG and Aphaia Pharma AG (Zug, Switzerland). Neither Qanatpharma AG nor Aphaia Pharma AG had any financial or intellectual involvement in this article.
Author contribution
JTK and SSB wrote the first draft of this article. All authors contributed equally to the conceptualization, literature research and revision of the final manuscript.
Supplemental Material
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