Removing a phosphate from BMAL1 controls the speed of the body’s daily clock

Dephosphorylation of BMAL1 by protein phosphatase 4 (PPP4) is involved in modulating circadian timing.

• Circadian clocks in mammals operate through self-sustained oscillators in nearly all body cells.
• These oscillators rely on delayed negative feedback loops in gene expression for their function.
• Both transcriptional activation and repression are essential for maintaining circadian rhythms.
• Post-translational modifications, particularly phosphorylation by protein kinases, significantly influence the pace of circadian clocks.
• The study highlights the specific role of PPP4 in the dephosphorylation of BMAL1 as a regulatory mechanism for circadian timing.

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