Protocol to evaluate fasting metabolism and its relationship to the core circadian clock in mice

Abstract

To investigate the role of hepatocyte genes in fasting metabolism, it is essential to analyze their expression across the entire 24-h circadian cycle. Here, we present a protocol to evaluate fasting metabolism and its relationship to the core circadian clock in mice. We describe steps for time-course fasting/feeding experiment setup and performing staggered fasting and refeeding for 24 h. We then detail procedures for evaluating oxidative substrate selection and rescuing defective oxidative metabolism through FGF21 and CPI-613 injections. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Sun et al.