The sweet tooth of the circadian clock

• Published in: Biochemical Society transactions Vol. 45; no. 4; p. 871
• Main Authors: Fu, Minnie, Yang, Xiaoyong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 15.08.2017
• Subjects: Acetylglucosamine - metabolism; Animals; Appetite Regulation; Circadian Clocks; Circadian Rhythm Signaling Peptides and Proteins - metabolism; Energy Intake; Energy Metabolism; Humans; Models, Biological; Nerve Tissue Proteins - metabolism; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Neurons - physiology; metabolism; post-translational modification; O-GlcNAc; circadian clock
• DOI: 10.1042/BST20160183

The endogenous circadian clock is a key regulator of daily metabolic processes. On the other hand, circadian clocks in a broad range of tissues can be tuned by extrinsic and intrinsic metabolic cues. The bidirectional interaction between circadian clocks and metabolism involves both transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms. Nuclear receptors exemplify the transcriptional programs that couple molecular clocks to metabolism. The post-translational modifications of the core clock machinery are known to play a key role in metabolic entrainment of circadian clocks. O-linked -acetylglucosamine modification (O-GlcNAcylation) of intracellular proteins is a key mediator of metabolic response to nutrient availability. This review highlights our current understanding of the role of protein O-GlcNAcylation in mediating metabolic input and output of the circadian clock.