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Manipulation of Rhythmic Food Intake in Mice Using a Custom-Made Feeding System
Published on: December 16, 2022
You are when you eat: How food synchronizes liver clocks
Qin Zhou1,2, Mitchell A Lazar1,2
1Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Science Advances
|July 23, 2026
Summary
Eating meals helps control the liver's daily biological clock. Hormones and nutrients regulate the mTOR pathway, synchronizing liver gene expression with meal timing.
Area of Science:
- Chronobiology
- Molecular biology
- Metabolism
Background:
- Circadian rhythms are endogenous biological processes that regulate physiological functions over a 24-hour cycle.
- The liver plays a critical role in metabolic regulation and exhibits robust circadian gene expression.
- Disruptions in circadian rhythms are linked to metabolic diseases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how food intake synchronizes circadian rhythms in liver gene expression.
- To elucidate the molecular mechanisms, including hormonal and nutrient signaling, involved in this synchronization.
- To understand the role of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway in mediating these effects.
Main Methods:
- Utilized mouse models to study liver circadian gene expression.
- Employed techniques such as RNA sequencing and Western blotting.
- Investigated the impact of nutrient availability and hormonal signals on the mTOR pathway and gene expression patterns.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated that food ingestion is a potent synchronizer of liver circadian gene expression.
- Identified specific hormones and nutrients that signal through the mTOR pathway to influence circadian clock genes.
- Showed that mTOR pathway activation is crucial for synchronizing liver gene expression with feeding schedules.
Conclusions:
- Food intake effectively synchronizes the liver's circadian clock.
- Hormone and nutrient sensing via the mTOR pathway are key regulators of liver circadian gene expression.
- This mechanism highlights a critical link between feeding behavior and metabolic homeostasis.
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