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Nature Chemical Biology 4, 23 (1 January 2008) | doi:10.1038/nchembio0108-23

Research Highlights

Heme watches the clock Although components of the mammalian circadian clock have been characterized, the physiological mechanisms of periodicity in organisms have been more difficult to elucidate. A new study shows that the REV-ERB class of nuclear hormone receptors may sense the concentration of heme, a cofactor important in energy metabolism, and couple it to changes in expression of genes associated with circadian rhythms.