Meal timing shifts liver rhythms, with ACSF3 responding in mice

The liver constantly adjusts how it processes, stores and uses nutrients. Its work is influenced by the circadian clock, the timekeeping system present in virtually all body cells, but food is another powerful signal. Mitochondria are part of that system: they help manage how nutrients are broken down, not just how cells produce energy.

Researchers tracked lysine-malonylation—a chemical modification that can change protein activity—in liver mitochondria. Its daily rhythm shifted when the mice’s feeding schedule changed, and the changes were associated with ACSF3. Reducing ACSF3 specifically in the liver then altered mitochondrial fatty-acid oxidation, increased lipid synthesis and changed daily liver-lipid rhythms, while also affecting glucose regulation and insulin signaling.

A second response emerged in the same livers: autophagy increased. This cellular recycling process removes damaged or unnecessary components and can help cells adapt to metabolic stress. The researchers do not yet know why lowering ACSF3 triggers it; one possibility is that autophagy is compensating for the metabolic disturbance.

Concretely, the result gives researchers a possible explanation for how shift work, irregular schedules and late-night meals might affect metabolism, but it does not tell people when to eat. The evidence is from mice and operates at the molecular level, so ACSF3 is a research lead—not a proven human intervention or a universal meal-time rule.