Posttranscriptional mechanisms controlling diurnal gene expression cycles by body temperature rhythms

Abstract

In mammals, body temperature oscillates in a daily fashion around a set point of 36°C-37°C. These fluctuations are controlled by the circadian master clock residing in the brain's suprachiasmatic nucleus and, despite their small amplitudes, contribute to the diurnal expression of genes throughout the organism. By focusing on the mechanisms underlying the temperature-dependent accumulation of the cold-inducible RNA-binding protein CIRBP - a factor involved in the tuning of amplitude and phase in circadian clocks of peripheral tissues - we have recently identified a novel mechanism governing temperature-dependent gene expression. This mechanism involves the differential spicing efficiency of primary RNA transcripts under different temperature conditions and thereby determines the fraction of Cirbp pre-mRNA processed into mature mRNA. A genome-wide transcriptome analysis revealed that this mechanism affects the output of hundreds of genes. Here we discuss our findings and future directions toward the identification of specific factors and parameters governing temperature-sensitive splicing efficacy.