Could Jet Lag be a Thing of the Past?

Jet lag could be a thing of the past, thanks to researchers from the University of Notre Dame.

As part of collaborative effort, they discovered a protein that could potentially keep happy travelers everywhere awake and energetic as ever.

According to the associate professor of biological sciences at Notre Dame, Giles Duffield, who is also a member of the University's Eck Institute for Global Health, and Kevin Flanagan, a University alumnus who is now a doctoral student at Washington University in St. Louis, they've characterized a protein known as SIK1 in order to harness the compound's role in keeping the body alert and awake.

During the study, the researchers identified a gene and its corresponding protein  that helps to limit the body's internal clock and daily light and dark patterns. The experiment examined laboratory mice and their ability to adjust to light and darkness during a certain time period when given the protein.

"Our key contribution to the project was to manipulate the SIK1 protein pharmacologically, and we revealed that such blockage of the protein's activity in combination with exposure to a natural clock resetting agent, such as light, enhanced the clock shifting response," Duffield said, via a press release. "For example, a one hour shift of the clock became two hours. We also showed this effect in both peripheral tissues as well as in the clock in the brain.

"It would appear that SIK1 plays a common role in our circadian clocks found throughout our body, and working as a hand-brake on our ability to shift our biorhythms and adjust to new time zones, whether these are real or artificial, such as those produced during shift work schedules."

The researchers also looked at the disruptions in the circadian pattern when looking at various diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and how it could affect shift work. Upsetting the delicate balance of circadian rhythm can affect this and other disorders, as well as many mental disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disease and seasonal affective disorder, also known as winter depression. It is important to note that approximately 16 percent of the U.S. and European workforces undertake some form of shift work.

"Having such a hand-break on the circadian clock systems makes sense so as to prevent excessive responses to environmental change, and that it is only in our modern 24-hour society, with Thomas Edison's light bulbs, Nikola Tesla's electricity, and jet airplanes, that we begin to realize our biological limitations," Duffield said, via the release.

Researchers believe that this protein could potentially provide therapeutic treatments for the future. 

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Cell.