Circadian Clock Regulates Body’s Collagen Production

“Tendons are a highly dynamic tissue with genetic, biochemical and structural changes occurring day and night regulated by the circadian clock,” Karl Kadler, PhD, of the University of Manchester in the U.K said. The circadian clock is the natural 24-hour cycle that organizes biological processes in the body. Kadler and his research team studied the role of the circadian clock in tendons in regulating the homeostasis of collagen, the most abundant structural protein found in connective tissue. They found that collagen accumulates in tendons during times when the body’s circadian clock is turned off. Excessive collagen leads to fibrosis in the tissues and may even be fatal in some cases. The researchers developed a collagen reporter tool, called DyProQ, that measures the number of collagen molecules being synthesized by a cell and can determine whether circadian clocks are active or disabled. They found that the circadian cycle regulates collagen synthesis by cells in the body.

The research will be presented virtually at the American Physiological Society (APS) Integrative Physiology of Exercise (IPE) conference. Request the Abstract: “The role of the circadian clock in exercising tendons”