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Updated: Jul 28, 2025
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Monitoring Cell-autonomous Circadian Clock Rhythms of Gene Expression Using Luciferase Bioluminescence Reporters
Published on: September 27, 2012
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The circadian clock CRY1 regulates pluripotent stem cell identity and somatic cell reprogramming
Shogo Sato1, Tomoaki Hishida2, Kenichiro Kinouchi3
1Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism, Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA; Center for Biological Clocks Research, Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Cell Reports
|June 1, 2023
Summary
The circadian repressor CRY1 has a unique role in pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), maintaining self-renewal and metabolic signatures. CRY1 is crucial for efficient induced PSC reprogramming and dictating stem cell identity.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Stem Cell Biology
Background:
- Metabolic conditions influence circadian-clock-controlled signaling pathways.
- The connection between pluripotent stem cell (PSC) metabolic hallmarks and clock functions is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the non-canonical functions of the circadian repressor CRY1 in PSCs.
- To determine CRY1's role in PSC self-renewal, metabolic signatures, and induced PSC (iPSC) reprogramming.
Main Methods:
- Assessed CRY1 accumulation during metabolic reprogramming (AMPK inactivation, SREBP1 activation) in PSCs.
- Performed functional assays to evaluate CRY1's necessity for PSC maintenance.
- Conducted genome-wide occupancy analysis of CRY1.
- Analyzed gene expression profiles in CRY1-deficient cells during iPSC reprogramming.
Main Results:
- CRY1 accumulates in PSCs during metabolic reprogramming.
- CRY1 is essential for PSC self-renewal, colony organization, and metabolic characteristics.
- CRY1 binds to regulatory genes involved in development and differentiation in PSCs.
- Loss of CRY1 impairs iPSC reprogramming efficiency and alters gene expression.
Conclusions:
- CRY1 plays a critical, non-canonical role in PSCs, distinct from its function in somatic cells.
- CRY1 is a key regulator of PSC identity, influencing self-renewal and metabolic homeostasis.
- CRY1 is functionally implicated in pluripotent reprogramming and early development (ontogenesis).
Keywords:
CP: Stem cell researchCryptochrome 1circadian clockiPSC reprogrammingmetabolismpluripotent stem cellsstem cell researchsterol regulatory element binding protein 1More Related Videos
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