Intracellular potassium levels orchestrate circadian rhythmicity and cell division
9 affiliations
- 1School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Max Born Crescent, Edinburgh, UK
- 2Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- 3UKRI MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Ave, Cambridge, UK
- 4University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne Excellence Cluster for Aging and Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), Institute for Mitochondrial Diseases and Ageing, Joseph-Stelzmann-Str, Cologne, Germany
- 5Center for Circadian Biology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- 6Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- 7Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA. [email protected]
- 8School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Max Born Crescent, Edinburgh, UK. [email protected]
- 9School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Max Born Crescent, Edinburgh, UK. [email protected]
Abstract
Circadian (~24 h) rhythms are a fundamental feature of life, and their disruption increases the risk of infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, and cancer. We previously identified circadian oscillations in intracellular potassium concentrations in cells across kingdoms. Using highly divergent eukaryotic cell types, we now show that potassium levels act to regulate the period and phase of clock gene expression rhythms, therefore establishing intracellular potassium as a bona fide regulator of cellular circadian rhythms. Intracellular potassium also regulates critical events in the cell cycle. Strikingly, we observe that manipulating potassium levels inhibits cell proliferation in a circadian phase-dependent manner. As the timing of cell division is tuned by the circadian clock, we hypothesised that potassium rhythms could mechanistically link cell proliferation rhythms to the circadian cycle. In line with this hypothesis, we find that potassium levels are not only sufficient to instruct the timing of cell proliferation, but also essential to maintain coherent coupling between circadian rhythms and proliferation rhythms. These results establish circadian potassium rhythms as a primary factor coupling the cell- and circadian cycles in eukaryotic cells.
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BibTeX
@article{rodriguez2026intracellular,
title = {{Intracellular potassium levels orchestrate circadian rhythmicity and cell division}},
author = {Sergio Gil Rodríguez and Louise L. Hansen and Olivia J. P. Fraser and Yen Peng Chew and Rebecca K. Spangler and Ellen Grünewald and Andrew D. Beale and Beverley M. Rabbitts and Alessandra Stangherlin and John Stuart O'Neill and Carrie L. Partch and Priya Crosby and Gerben Van Ooijen A},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-73351-2},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73351-2},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Intracellular potassium levels orchestrate circadian rhythmicity and cell division
AU - Sergio Gil Rodríguez
AU - Louise L. Hansen
AU - Olivia J. P. Fraser
AU - Yen Peng Chew
AU - Rebecca K. Spangler
AU - Ellen Grünewald
AU - Andrew D. Beale
AU - Beverley M. Rabbitts
AU - Alessandra Stangherlin
AU - John Stuart O'Neill
AU - Carrie L. Partch
AU - Priya Crosby
AU - Gerben Van Ooijen A
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/22
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-73351-2
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73351-2
AB - Circadian (~24 h) rhythms are a fundamental feature of life, and their disruption increases the risk of infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, and cancer. We previously identified circadian oscillations in intracellular potassium concentrations in cells across kingdoms. Using highly divergent eukaryotic cell types, we now show that potassium levels act to regulate the period and phase of clock gene expression rhythms, therefore establishing intracellular potassium as a bona fide regulator of cellular circadian rhythms. Intracellular potassium also regulates critical events in the cell cycle. Strikingly, we observe that manipulating potassium levels inhibits cell proliferation in a circadian phase-dependent manner. As the timing of cell division is tuned by the circadian clock, we hypothesised that potassium rhythms could mechanistically link cell proliferation rhythms to the circadian cycle. In line with this hypothesis, we find that potassium levels are not only sufficient to instruct the timing of cell proliferation, but also essential to maintain coherent coupling between circadian rhythms and proliferation rhythms. These results establish circadian potassium rhythms as a primary factor coupling the cell- and circadian cycles in eukaryotic cells.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -