AMPK regulates the circadian clock by cryptochrome phosphorylation and degradation

Science. 2009 Oct 16;326(5951):437-40. doi: 10.1126/science.1172156.

Abstract

Circadian clocks coordinate behavioral and physiological processes with daily light-dark cycles by driving rhythmic transcription of thousands of genes. Whereas the master clock in the brain is set by light, pacemakers in peripheral organs, such as the liver, are reset by food availability, although the setting, or "entrainment," mechanisms remain mysterious. Studying mouse fibroblasts, we demonstrated that the nutrient-responsive adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylates and destabilizes the clock component cryptochrome 1 (CRY1). In mouse livers, AMPK activity and nuclear localization were rhythmic and inversely correlated with CRY1 nuclear protein abundance. Stimulation of AMPK destabilized cryptochromes and altered circadian rhythms, and mice in which the AMPK pathway was genetically disrupted showed alterations in peripheral clocks. Thus, phosphorylation by AMPK enables cryptochrome to transduce nutrient signals to circadian clocks in mammalian peripheral organs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • AMP-Activated Protein Kinases / metabolism*
  • ARNTL Transcription Factors
  • Amino Acid Substitution
  • Aminoimidazole Carboxamide / analogs & derivatives
  • Aminoimidazole Carboxamide / pharmacology
  • Animals
  • Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Nucleus / metabolism
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Circadian Rhythm / physiology*
  • Cryptochromes
  • Culture Media
  • Flavoproteins / genetics
  • Flavoproteins / metabolism*
  • Food
  • Glucose / metabolism
  • Glucose / pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Liver / metabolism*
  • Mice
  • Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
  • Mutant Proteins / metabolism
  • Phosphorylation
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Protein Stability
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
  • Ribonucleotides / pharmacology
  • Signal Transduction

Substances

  • ARNTL Transcription Factors
  • BMAL1 protein, human
  • Bmal1 protein, mouse
  • Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors
  • CRY1 protein, human
  • Cry1 protein, mouse
  • Cryptochromes
  • Culture Media
  • Flavoproteins
  • Mutant Proteins
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Ribonucleotides
  • Aminoimidazole Carboxamide
  • AMP-Activated Protein Kinases
  • AICA ribonucleotide
  • Glucose