Integrating metabolic and transcriptional circadian clocks.

Every cell in the human body keeps its own 24-hour time, and a family of proteins called peroxiredoxins appears to be a central gear in that clockwork. This research aims to understand exactly how that gear works and how it connects to the cell's other timekeeping machinery. The problem is that scientists know cells have daily rhythms—waking, sleeping, repairing DNA, processing energy—but the molecular nuts and bolts of the clock remain incomplete. The standard model focuses on genes that turn on and off in a cycle. This lab recently discovered that peroxiredoxins, which help neutralise harmful oxidants produced by respiration, also oscillate in a daily rhythm. That suggests a second, parallel clock exists, one driven by metabolism rather than gene activity. This project will build tools to watch both clocks in real time, then perturb the metabolic clock to see how the gene-based clock responds. This is fundamental science. If successful, it will provide a complete picture of how a cell keeps time. That deeper understanding could eventually inform treatments for conditions where circadian rhythms go awry—such as metabolic disorders, sleep disruption, or jet lag—but no immediate application is expected. Past fundamental work on circadian clocks, for example, led to the discovery of why some drugs work better at certain times of day.