Understanding Circadian Rhythms through Transcription Factors

In most recent discoveries pertaining to the study of Circadian Rhythms and genetics, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found the secret to how cellular clocks are in time with different circadian phases during different times of days.

Sciencedaily.com states something very eyeopening in this article, "Most of us wake in the morning, sleep in the evening, and eat in between. Body temperature, metabolism, and hormone levels all fluctuate throughout the day, and it is increasingly clear that disruption of those cycles can lead to metabolic disease." By understanding these molecular clocks that are affected by DNA-binding proteins called transcription factors that control these oscillation factors that make the clock work, one can question the connection between different circadian peaks and how the clock keeps in time with other cycles.

Mitchell Lazar (MD, PHD), a Sylman Eisman Professor of Medicine, and his group of researchers have collected a survey of "genome-wide" circadian rhythm survey and enhancers (regulatory elements) that control the expression of genes. What Lazar's team did was use high-density DNA sequencing to measure activity of enhancers in mice (in their liver) and discovered that these enhancers also have a daily oscillation rate are grouped up in a way that is timed in sync with different transcription factors. Loss of a factor throws the system out of balance and thus causes metabolic disease. Out of balance circadian rhythms can also cause cancer as found in this article.

I found this article and subject matter most interesting because the research being done on circadian rhythm and synchronization that could lead to new ways to make more effective metabolic medicine is staggering. Through understanding these pathways and transcription peaks, medicine can be tailored to be taken at a certain time of day as Lazar says with also the possibility to reduce unwanted side effects. Overall, metabolic drug treatment will be revolutionized by these important discoveries.
Original Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141120123019.htm
Supporting Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140624110714.htm

Reading Your Biological Clock

UCLA professor Steve Horvath used eight thousand samples of fifty-one tissue and cell types in order to develop a new way to understand the biological clock. Specifically, he used over 350 genetic markers to track the relationship age and methylation levels. From his results, he noticed that different types of tissue aged differently when compared to different tissue found on the same body. Specifically, he noticed that healthy breast tissue was two to three years older than the rest of a woman's body when compare to abnormal cancerous breast tissue that, was on average, twelve years older than the rest of another woman's body. He also observed that biological clock is not moving at a constant rate. The clock ticks faster during the earlier stages of life up until the age of twenty. From there, the biological clock was shown to slow down until a constant rate was reached.

I understand that everyone's clock is not same, but this new biological clock can be used as a guide to help us indicate potential issues within our tissue. With more studies, patterns could be developed to indicated a deleterious change compared to a normal change. With further research, people can start to understand some of the processes related to primary aging and the changes that are associated with it on a molecular level. By knowing the relative age of different tissues within the body, specific preventative medicines could be designed to slow down aging in order to prevent possible disease. Aging is a very complex process. Understanding its fundamental processes can help correct age-related diseases or lower risks for diseases.