![Circadian Rhythm And Its Effects On Our Body Circadian Rhythm And Its Effects On Our Body](https://www.medindia.net/afp/images/Pakistan-energy-clock-27496.jpg)
One of the circadian clock's transcription factors, proteins that regulate gene activity, is called period. Stem cell biologist Phillip Karpowicz, HMS research fellow in genetics, did not expect to find period in the gut of a fly. Working in the lab of Norbert Perrimon, the James Stillman Professor of Developmental Biology in the Harvard Medical School Department of Genetics, Karpowicz studies flies to see how the intestine regenerates cells when they are injured.
Screening for transcription factors active in damage repair revealed that the gene period was needed. Further experiments showed that this component of the circadian clock is critical to intestinal regeneration, meaning that in flies, gut healing fluctuates according to the time of day. Karpowicz, Perrimon and their colleagues published their results April 11 in Cell Reports.
"We thought this was really weird. I would not have thought that regeneration would tend to work better at one part of the day versus another part of the day," Karpowicz said. "But now we've shown that there's a rhythm in stem cells that's really important for the regeneration process."
"This is a beautiful example of why we do genetic screens in the first place. By taking an unbiased approach, the fly tells us what is important to study," Perrimon said.
Intestines are hotbeds of regeneration because they are constantly vulnerable to damage. Harmful bacteria or harsh chemicals that animals ingest can injure cells lining their intestines, which are essential for absorbing nutrients or blocking infectious agents from crossing through thin intestinal walls.
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Compared to other flies, the mutants mounted a weaker response to repair their damaged cells. Their stem cells divided poorly and in a more haphazard manner, impairing the healing process.
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The scientists widened their lens to look at all the genes that were turned on or off during the day. Performing genome-wide expression studies, they discovered 430 genes—about 3 percent of the fly genome—that are rhythmically expressed in fly intestines.
"We think these cells may be more acutely sensitive to damage at a certain time of day," Karpowicz said.
The next step will be to confirm these fly findings in mice. The scientists have already contemplated the potential applications to human health, including the timing of chemotherapy so a patient might best tolerate the treatment's side effects.
"This could be quite relevant in terms of when you should time the absorption of those drugs to work in sync with the intestinal regeneration process," Karpowicz said.
Source-Eurekalert