Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 1, 2025

Manipulation of Rhythmic Food Intake in Mice Using a Custom-Made Feeding System
Published on: December 16, 2022
Reshaping circadian metabolism in the suprachiasmatic nucleus and prefrontal cortex by nutritional challenge
Paola Tognini1,2, Muntaha Samad3, Kenichiro Kinouchi4,5
1Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism, Department of Biological Chemistry, U1233 INSERM, University of California, Irvine, CA 92617; paola.tognini@unipi.it pfbaldi@ics.uci.edu.
Abstract:
Food is a powerful entrainment cue for circadian clocks in peripheral tissues, and changes in the composition of nutrients have been demonstrated to metabolically reprogram peripheral clocks. However, how food challenges may influence circadian metabolism of the master clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) or in other brain areas is poorly understood. Using high-throughput metabolomics, we studied the circadian metabolome profiles of the SCN and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in lean mice compared with mice challenged with a high-fat diet (HFD). Both the mPFC and the SCN displayed a robust cyclic metabolism, with a strikingly high sensitivity to HFD perturbation in an area-specific manner. The phase and amplitude of oscillations were drastically different between the SCN and mPFC, and the metabolic pathways impacted by HFD were remarkably region-dependent. Furthermore, HFD induced a significant increase in the number of cycling metabolites exclusively in the SCN, revealing an unsuspected susceptibility of the master clock to food stress.
Related Concept Videos
Circadian Rhythms and Gene Regulation
Chronopharmacokinetics: Circadian Rhythms and Influence on Drug Response
The time of drug administration is an important factor to consider, as it can influence the toxic dose of a drug. For example, a study conducted by Prins et al. in 1997 examined the effects of the timing of...
Regulation of Food Intake
Metabolic States of the Body: Fasting and Starvation
Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses
Management of Insomnia

