The REV-ERB Nuclear Receptors: Timekeepers for the Core Clock Period and Metabolism

Abstract

REV-ERB nuclear receptors are potent transcriptional repressors that play an important role in the core mammalian molecular clock and metabolism. Deletion of both REV-ERBα and its largely redundant isoform REV-ERBβ in a murine tissue-specific manner have shed light on their specific functions in clock mechanisms and circadian metabolism. This review highlights recent findings that establish REV-ERBs as crucial circadian timekeepers in a variety of tissues, regulating overlapping and distinct processes that maintain normal physiology and protect from metabolic dysfunction.

Keywords: REV-ERB; circadian rhythms; desynchrony; lipids; metabolism; molecular clocks; nuclear receptors.