Adjusting the circadian clock, rhythms may significantly increase in future medications and medications

Irvine, CA – February 11, 2021 – Subconsciously, our bodies hold time for us through an old method – the circadian clock. A new article led by the University of California, Irvine reviews how the clock controls various aspects of homeostasis, and how organs coordinate their action over a day.

“What’s interesting is that almost every cell that makes up our organs has its own clock, so time is an important part of biology,” he said. Kevin B. Koronowski, PhD, lead author and postgraduate in Biological Chemistry at the UCI School of Medicine. “Understanding how everyday time is linked to work across organs is influential on human health, as clock disturbances and circadian rhythms can be both a cause and an effect of diseases ranging from diabetes to cancer. “

The circadian clock generates a ~ 24 hour rhythm that controls behavior, hormones, the immune system and metabolism. Using human and mouse cells, researchers from the Paolo Sassone-Corsi Laboratory at the UCI Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism aim to find the physical circuits, for example between the brain and liver, where biological clocks are ‘achieving coherence. Their work, titled, “Communicating clocks shape circadian homeostasis,” was published today in Science.

Circadian clocks align internal processes with external time, which allows diverse lifestyles to anticipate daily environmental changes such as the dark-dark cycle. In complex organisms, clock action begins with the genetically encoded molecular clock or oscillator within each cell and builds up anatomically into a system throughout organism. Circadian abuse, often perpetuated in today’s society, can disrupt this system and adversely affect health if it lasts long.

“Strategies to tune our clocks and increase rhythms have been promising in pre-clinical studies, highlighting the importance of solving and solving this aspect of our biology. unlocking its potential for future therapies and pharmaceuticals, ”Koronowski said.

Without electric lighting, fast travel, regular access to food and work-life schedules around the clock, the clocks of our ancestors were in constant harmony with the environment. However, as a result of these pressures in today’s society, aligning our inner time with geophysical time has become a challenge in today’s world. -today. Harmful abuse – when eating and sleeping patterns go against the natural light-dark cycle – is associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, neurological conditions, and cancer. A large proportion of the world’s workforce has special hours and may be particularly vulnerable.

“It has become imperative that we discover the molecular underpinnings of the relationship between the circadian clock and disease,” Koronowski explained. “Determining the ways in which clocks communicate across metabolic organs has the potential to reverse understanding of metabolism, and may have therapeutic promise for innovative, noninvasive strategies to promote health. “

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This work is dedicated in memory of Paolo Sassone-Corsi (1956-2020), a great scientist, consultant and man. It was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

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