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Global daily dynamics of the pineal transcriptome

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Abstract

Transcriptome profiling of the pineal gland has revealed night/day differences in the expression of a major fraction of the genes active in this tissue, with two-thirds of these being nocturnal increases. A set of over 600 transcripts exhibit two-fold to >100-fold daily differences in abundance. These changes appear to be primarily attributable to adrenergic-cyclic-AMP-dependent mechanisms, which are controlled via a neural pathway that includes the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the master circadian oscillator. In addition to melatonin synthesis, night/day differences in gene expression impact genes associated with several specialized functions, including the immune/inflammation response, photo-transduction, and thyroid hormone/retinoic acid biology. The following nonspecialized cellular features are also affected: adhesion, cell cycle/cell death, cytoskeleton, DNA modification, endothelium, growth, RNA modification, small molecule biology, transcription factors, vesicle biology, signaling involving Ca2+, cyclic nucleotides, phospholipids, mitogen-activated protein kinases, the Wnt signaling pathway, and protein phosphorylation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús (Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús), Camino Circunvalación Laguna km 6 cc164, B7130IWA, Chascomús, Argentina

    Diego M. Bustos

  2. Department of Poultry Science, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA

    Michael J. Bailey

  3. Division of Reproduction and Endocrinology, School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, King’s College London, London, SE1 1UL, UK

    David Sugden

  4. School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3AX, UK

    David A. Carter

  5. Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvei 3, 2200, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Martin F. Rath & Morten Møller

  6. Section on Neuroendocrinology, Program on Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA

    Steven L. Coon, Joan L. Weller & David C. Klein

  7. NIH 49/6A82, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA

    David C. Klein

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  1. Diego M. Bustos
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  2. Michael J. Bailey
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  3. David Sugden
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  4. David A. Carter
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  5. Martin F. Rath
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  6. Morten Møller
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  7. Steven L. Coon
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  8. Joan L. Weller
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  9. David C. Klein
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Correspondence to David C. Klein.

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Bustos, D.M., Bailey, M.J., Sugden, D. et al. Global daily dynamics of the pineal transcriptome. Cell Tissue Res 344, 1–11 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-010-1094-1

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