Circadian rhythms are daily cycles in biological function that are ubiquitous in nature. Understood as a means for organisms to anticipate daily environmental changes, circadian rhythms are also important for orchestrating complex biological processes such as immunity. Nowhere is this more evident than in the respiratory system, where circadian rhythms in inflammatory lung disease have been appreciated since ancient times. In this focused review we examine how emerging research on circadian rhythms is being applied to the study of fundamental lung biology and respiratory disease. We begin with a general introduction to circadian rhythms and the molecular circadian clock that underpins them. We then focus on emerging data tying circadian clock function to immunologic activities within the respiratory system. We conclude by considering outstanding questions about biological timing in the lung and how a better command of chronobiology could inform our understanding of complex lung diseases.

中文翻译：

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为什么肺保持时间：昼夜节律和肺免疫。

昼夜节律是生物功能的日常周期，在自然界中无处不在。作为生物体预测日常环境变化的一种手段，昼夜节律对于协调复杂的生物过程（如免疫）也很重要。这一点在呼吸系统中表现得最为明显，自古以来就已经认识到炎症性肺病的昼夜节律。在这篇重点综述中，我们研究了新兴的昼夜节律研究如何应用于基础肺生物学和呼吸系统疾病的研究。我们首先对昼夜节律和支撑它们的分子生物钟进行一般性介绍。然后，我们专注于将生物钟功能与呼吸系统内的免疫活动联系起来的新兴数据。