News Releases & Research Results Discovery of new compounds involved in the circadian clock that also enhance brown adipocyte differentiation

The results of collaborative research conducted by Specially Appointed Associate Professor Tsuyoshi Hirota, Researcher Simon Miller, and Researcher Yoshiki Aikawa of the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, Nagoya University, and Specially Appointed Associate Professor Megumi Hatori and Specially Appointed Assistant Professor You Lee Son of Keio University School of Medicine.

• The research group discovered new compounds that extend the period of the circadian clock that controls daily physiological rhythms seen in various physiological phenomena such as the brain states of sleep and wakefulness, and successfully elucidated their mechanisms of action.
• Specifically, they discovered KL101 and TH301, as new, small molecules that extend the period of the circadian clock, and found out that they selectively interact with the clock proteins CRY1 and CRY2, respectively.
• The research group also found that CRY1 and CRY2 are necessary for the differentiation of brown adipocytes, which consume energy by producing heat, and that KL101 and TH301 enhance their differentiation.

This research project was conducted with the support of the Advanced Research and Development Programs for Medical Innovation (PRIME) by AMED.

The results of research were published in Nature Chemical Biology , an American scientific journal, on March 31.

Simon Miller., et al. Isoform-selective regulation of mammalian cryptochromes Nature Chemical Biology
DOI: 10.1038/s41589-020-0505-1