Search

Lysine acetyltransferases and lysine deacetylases regulate gene expression and protein function by controlling acetylation and deacetylation of histones and diverse non-histone proteins. The activity of lysine acetyltransferases and lysine deacetylases is regulated by cellular metabolic states, offering the potential for therapeutic modulation through dietary and pharmacological interventions.

Time restricted feeding has several health benefits. Here the authors perform a randomised cross-over study with 11 men with overweight/obesity to investigate how time restricted feeding affects skeletal muscle and serum, and report that it does not affect the core circadian machinery, but modifies periodicity in amino acid related metabolites and transporters.

Perturbations of circadian rhythms can promote cancer, and expression of core clock genes and proteins is attenuated in many tumours. Furthermore, metabolic control by the circadian clock may influence cancer metabolism. This Review outlines recent discoveries related to the interplay between circadian rhythms, proliferative metabolism and cancer.

Drugs of abuse have been shown to perturb circadian rhythms. Here, the authors show in mice that cocaine exposure modulates circadian gene expression in the striatum through a previously unappreciated pathway that involves dopamine D2 receptors and the nuclear receptor PPARγ.

Since their discovery less than 30 years ago, microRNAs have been shown to have major roles all over the body. Now they’re showing up in skin repair.

The organizers of an international biology meeting asked psychologists to assess their attempts at retaining the advantages of traditional conferences.

Could the process of aging be slowed or even reversed in skin? New metabolomics studies suggest it can.

The function of histone proteins can be modified through addition or removal of certain chemical groups. The addition of a serotonin molecule is a newly found histone modification that could influence gene expression.

In addition to the central pacemaker, the mammalian brain contains additional circadian clocks. In this Review, Greco and Sassone–Corsi discuss how systemic homeostasis relies on the coordinated communication between these clocks.

Disruption of the circadian clock has been linked to cancer and alterations in cancer metabolism and this has implications for therapeutic development.

Genki Kawamura et al. demonstrate that cells are protected against UV stress through cooperative interactions among circadian clock, heat shock response, and a tumor suppression mechanism. This study reports another protective role of circadian clock as an adaptation strategy against cellular stress.

Circadian rhythms are known to modulate memory, but it’s not known whether clock genes in the hippocampus are required for memory consolidation. Here, the authors show that epigenetic regulation of clock gene Period1 in the hippocampus regulates memory and contributes to age-related memory decline, independent of circadian rhythms.

Circadian clock regulates hepatic gene expression and functions. Here Chao et al. show that alteration of circadian clock genes by Period deletion induces polyploidy in hepatocytes due to impaired regulation of Erk signaling by mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase 1.

The number of conferences on epigenetics has been increasing in the past decade, underscoring the impact of the field on a variety of areas in biology and medicine. However, the mechanistic role of the epigenome in adaptation and inheritance, and how the environment may impinge on epigenetic control, are topics of growing debate. Those themes were the focus of the inaugural international King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Research Conference on Environmental Epigenetics in Saudi Arabia, where more than 100 participants from 19 countries enjoyed vibrant scientific discussions and a pleasant February breeze from the Red Sea.

MLL1 regulates circadian promoters by depositing H3K4 trimethyl marks, whose levels are also modulated by the NAD⁺-dependent deacetylase SIRT1. SIRT1 is now shown to promote circadian deacetylation of MLL1, thus affecting MLL1's methyltransferase activity.

Mammalian circadian clocks modulate the daily cycles of many cellular processes. Here the authors find that metastasis-associated protein 1, which is upregulated in human cancers, is an intrinsic regulator of the mammalian molecular clock.

4C (chromosome conformation capture on chip) analyses using the clock-controlled Dbp gene as bait reveal the existence of circadian long-range interactions in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. The Dbp circadian interactome is dependent on a functional circadian clock and contains a number of clock-related DNA elements.

In this Opinion article, Masri and Sassone-Corsi discuss the complex interconnections between circadian rhythms, metabolic processes and epigenetic regulation of gene transcription. They propose that cellular metabolic state and epigenetic mechanisms might work through the circadian clock to regulate neuronal function and influence disease states.

The molecular clock machinery regulates organisms' responses to daily variations in the environment. One unexpected response seems to be temporal fine-tuning of stem-cell behaviour in the skin. See Article p.209

Circadian rhythms rely on a molecular clock that effects specific gene expression. Recently it has become clear that there is a tight connection between circadian gene transcription and histone acetylation. Histone methyltransferase MLL1, and its product histone H3K4me3, are now shown to cycle at clock-responsive promoters. The former binds key circadian transcription factors and is required for rhythmic gene expression and chromatin modification.

We present a special focus on epigenetics in the nervous system, highlighting recent advances in our understanding of epigenetic mechanisms and their regulation in neurons, as well as their role in nervous system function.

This perspective discusses the role of epigenetic mechanisms in regulating circadian rhythms, and emphasizes that the role of peripheral machinery is key for a fuller understanding of this regulation.

Evidence indicates that the disruption of the circadian clock might be directly linked to cancer. As described here, alterations in clock function could lead to aberrant cellular proliferation, DNA damage responses and altered metabolism.

BMAL1 has a central role in the mammalian circadian clock, acting as a transcriptional activator. The activity of BMAL1 is controlled by post-translational modifications such as acetylation and SUMOylation. Now the kinase CK2a is shown to phosphorylate BMAL1 at Ser90, and this is essential for BMAL1's function in the circadian clock.

The circadian regulator CLOCK has histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activity that contributes to chromatin-remodelling events during circadian control of gene expression. Here, CLOCK is shown to acetylate its heterodimerization partner BMAL1, a step which facilitates recruitment of CRY1 and promotes transcriptional repression.

The 'body clock' regulates the daily cycles of many physiological and metabolic processes, but just how is a mystery. New findings suggest that the cycling of energy metabolism is mediated by an activator of gene expression.

As US biotechnology companies seek to expand or relocate their operations abroad, Paris is pitching itself as a scientifically strategic location. Rex Dalton reports.

The chromatoid body, a unique cloud-like structure of male germ cells, has puzzled scientists for years. Recent findings indicate that microRNA and RNA-decay pathways converge at the chromatoid body, which might function as a germ-cell-specific RNA-processing centre.

The molecular mechanisms that regulate the balance between differentiation and self-renewal in spermatogonial stem cells are elusive. Two studies now show that the transcriptional repressor Plzf is an essential regulator of spermatogonial stem cell maintenance.