Autophagy regulates the liver clock and glucose metabolism by degrading CRY1
The circadian clock coordinates behavioral and circadian cues with availability and utilization of nutrients. Proteasomal degradation of clock repressors, such as cryptochrome (CRY)1, maintains periodicity. Whether macroautophagy, a quality control pathway, degrades circadian proteins remains unknown. Here we show that circadian proteins BMAL1, CLOCK, REV-ERBα and CRY1 are lysosomal targets, and that macroautophagy affects the circadian clock by selectively degrading CRY1.