REVIEW article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Metabolic Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1654369
This article is part of the Research TopicNutritional and Metabolic Adaptations in Animals: Physiological and Molecular PerspectivesView all articles
Progress in Understanding How Clock Genes Regulate Aging and Associated Metabolic Processes
Provisionally accepted
- 1Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China
- 2Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The circadian system, primarily governed by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus, consists of a central clock and peripheral clocks distributed across various body tissues. Clock genes generate a 24-hour oscillatory cycle via a transcription-translation feedback loop (TTFL). Emerging evidence has identified circadian rhythm disruption as a significant contributor to the risk of metabolic disorders. With aging, the function of circadian rhythms declines, leading to metabolic dysfunction in multiple organs. This article reviews the molecular mechanisms underlying circadian rhythm disruption during aging, with a focus on telomere homeostasis, SIRT1-mediated epigenetic regulation, and the NAD + metabolic pathway, and systematically analyzes the characteristics of rhythm imbalance in different metabolic organs. A comprehensive understanding of the correlation between circadian rhythms and aging is essential for developing strategies to combat aging and metabolic diseases.
Keywords: circadian rhythms, Clock genes, Aging, metabolic disorders, metabolic syndrome
Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Su, Wang, Chen, Bao, Wen, Ren and Luan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhi-Lin Luan, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.