Circadian rhythms offer temporal control of anticipatory physiologic adaptations in animals. In the mammalian cardiovascular system, the importance of these rhythms is underscored by increased cardiovascular disease in shift workers, findings recapitulated in experimental animal models. However, a nodal regulator that allows integration of central and peripheral information and coordinates cardiac rhythmic output has been elusive.

Researchers show in the journal Cell Reports that kruppel-like factor 15 (KLF15) governs a biphasic transcriptomic oscillation in the heart with a maximum ATP production phase and a remodeling and repair phase corresponding to the active and resting phase of a rodent.

Depletion of KLF15 in cardiomyocytes leads to a disorganized oscillatory behavior without phasic partition despite an intact core clock.

Thus, KLF15 is a nodal connection between the clock and meaningful rhythmicity in the heart.

http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/abstract/S2211-1247(15)01353-4