title: Circadian clock: linking epigenetics to aging.
abstract: Circadian rhythms are generated by an intrinsic cellular mechanism that controls a large array of physiological and metabolic processes. There is erosion in the robustness of circadian rhythms during aging, and disruption of the clock by genetic ablation of specific genes is associated with aging-related features. Importantly, environmental conditions are thought to modulate the aging process. For example, caloric restriction is a very strong environmental effector capable of delaying aging. Intracellular pathways implicating nutrient sensors, such as SIRTs and mTOR complexes, impinge on cellular and epigenetic mechanisms that control the aging process. Strikingly, accumulating evidences indicate that these pathways are involved in both the modulation of the aging process and the control of the clock. Hence, innovative therapeutic strategies focused at controlling the circadian clock and the nutrient sensing pathways might beneficially influence the negative effects of aging.
authors.affiliation: Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, United States.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Orozco-Solis
authors.affiliation: Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, United States. Electronic address: psc@uci.edu.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sassone-Corsi
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D057906:Circadian Clocks / Q000235:genetics*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D057890:Epigenomics; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D056564:Sirtuin 1 / Q000235:genetics; D056566:Sirtuin 3 / Q000235:genetics; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C546842:MTOR protein, human; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; C447939:SIRT1 protein, human; C466093:SIRT3 protein, human; D056564:Sirtuin 1; D056566:Sirtuin 3