Keeping the body’s different clocks in sync could be the secret to slowing aging: ScienceAlert

We have multiple biological clocks that keep our bodies in sync internally and with the outside world – and two new studies show how these clocks work together to maintain tissue functionality and slow its rate of aging.

The research focuses on the central circadian clock – the brain’s core clock controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) – and peripheral circadian clocks, which are distributed throughout the body and control the timing of cellular processes in organs, muscles and skin.

As long as the central clock communicates with a peripheral clock during the day, processes such as DNA repair, mitochondrial activity (energy management), metabolism and the natural cell cycle can be kept on track.

If these mechanisms can be studied in more detail and controlled to some extent, this could be an important step in maintaining the health of body parts longer as we age.

“Our study shows that a minimal interaction between just two tissue clocks, a central and a peripheral one, is required to maintain the optimal function of tissues such as muscles and skin and to prevent their deterioration and aging,” says biologist Pura Muñoz-Cánoves from Pompeu Fabra University in Spain at the time of the research.

The research includes two complementary studies published simultaneously. The first, in Scienceshowed, using experiments with mice, how restoring coordination between brain and muscle clocks protects against muscle atrophy and loss of muscle strength and function.

In the second study, in cell stem cellThe team examined the circadian clock in the skin of mice. This clock also depended on the central clock for proper operation; Without this regulation, functions such as DNA replication would occur at the wrong time.

However, the peripheral clocks have some autonomy, research found: They can still track the 24-hour cycle and manage a small part of cellular functions. In addition, it was shown that restricting the mice’s feeding times to certain times of day when there is no brain clock helps the peripheral clocks to cope better independently.

“It is fascinating to see how synchronization between the brain and peripheral circadian clocks plays a crucial role in skin and muscle health, while peripheral clocks alone carry out the most basic tissue functions autonomously,” says Aznar Benitah from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine Barcelona in Spain.

The circadian rhythms that occur throughout our bodies 24 hours a day are critical to most biological processes, including sleep and digestion. When disrupted – for example by jet lag or night shifts – serious negative health effects can occur. Understanding this measurement of time is critical to understanding health.

As muscles, skin and the central nervous system wear down with age, the researchers behind these two studies believe their work has the potential to help maintain it physical ability later in life.

“The next step is to identify the signaling factors involved in this interaction, with a view to possible therapeutic applications,” says Muñoz-Cánoves.

The research was published in Science And cell stem cell.