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Updated: Jun 29, 2026
Cell Type-specific Gene Expression Profiling in the Mouse Liver
Published on: September 17, 2019
Transcriptional profiling of mRNA expression in the mouse distal colon
Willemijntje A Hoogerwerf1, Mala Sinha, Ana Conesa
1Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105, USA. willemij@umich.edu
Background & Aims:
Intestinal epithelial cells and the myenteric plexus of the mouse gastrointestinal tract contain a circadian clock-based intrinsic time-keeping system. Because disruption of the biological clock has been associated with increased susceptibility to colon cancer and gastrointestinal symptoms, we aimed to identify rhythmically expressed genes in the mouse distal colon.
Methods:
Microarray analysis was used to identify genes that were rhythmically expressed over a 24-hour light/dark cycle. The transcripts were then classified according to expression pattern, function, and association with physiologic and pathophysiologic processes of the colon.
Results:
A circadian gene expression pattern was detected in approximately 3.7% of distal colonic genes. A large percentage of these genes were involved in cell signaling, differentiation, and proliferation and cell death. Of all the rhythmically expressed genes in the mouse colon, approximately 7% (64/906) have been associated with colorectal cancer formation (eg, B-cell leukemia/lymphoma-2 [Bcl2]) and 1.8% (18/906) with various colonic functions such as motility and secretion (eg, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator).
Conclusions:
A subset of genes in the murine colon follows a rhythmic expression pattern. These findings may have significant implications for colonic physiology and pathophysiology.
