UC Merced study tries to better understand biological clocks

New research at UC Merced is focused on better understanding biological clocks and their role in human health.

According to researchers, biological timing – the shift from nighttime to daytime functions – depends on the movements of a single protein. The group of researchers are trying to decipher the protein’s behavior.

The study, soon to be published in the academic journal Science, is led by UC Merced professor Andy LiWang, who studies circadian clocks, which regulate biological activities in 24-hour rhythms.

Circadian clocks drive rest and activity, he explained. “Normally, your internal clock is synchronized with local time. At night, you feel tired, and in the morning, you feel ready to take on the world.”

Listening to a body’s clock is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle, LiWang said. When this timing is ignored or altered, the body can feel tired or sick.

Take, for example, late night snacking. The body may not be ready for sugar intake at midnight. When people eat sweets at late hours, when the body is least able to deal with sugar, they can develop glucose intolerance over time, LiWang explained.

A body’s clock is also the reason why the older a person gets, the harder time he or she has sleeping at night and staying awake during the day. “As you get older, your clock gets worse,” LiWang said. “That’s because the clock is losing amplitude of rhythm.”

Researchers are now only formulating data, but this information can later be used to develop ways to treat issues like sleep disorders, he said.

LiWang wrote the research paper with the assistance of UC Merced postdoctoral candidates Yong-Gang Chang and Archana Chavan, and graduate student Roger Tseng. The group collaborated with researchers from UC San Diego, UC Davis and the University of Chicago.

The study was conducted by testing the clocks of cyanobacteria, bacteria that obtain energy from sunlight.

Cyanobacteria make good subjects, LiWang explained, because they are the only organisms whose protein, which drive the bacteria’s timekeeping system, can be reassembled in a test tube, making them easier to manage and study.

Although there is no relation between the biological clocks in plant cells and human cells, studying the protein in cyanobacteria can lead to better understanding the more complex nature of timing in human cells, LiWang said.

The research is supported by more than $2 million from the Air Force, the Army and the National Institutes of Health. LiWang said the armed forces takes a special interest in research that can lead to creating tools that will minimize health problems related to jet lag and maximize performance.

“They appreciate the long-term implications of what we’re doing,” he said.

According to UC Merced, LiWang’s publication in Science is the first time the journal published original research with a faculty member from the university’s School of Natural Sciences as a corresponding author.

This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 10:05 AM with the headline "UC Merced study tries to better understand biological clocks."