Diurnal change of the cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (Cirp) expression in mouse brain.

RNA-binding proteins are believed to play important roles in regulation of neural functions. Recently, a mouse cDNA encoding the cold-inducible RNA-binding protein, Cirp, has been isolated, the amino acid sequence of which showed similarity to plant circadian rhythm proteins. In the present study, diurnal expression of Cirp in the mouse nervous system was examined. Northern blot analysis showed that the level of Cirp mRNA was diurnally regulated in the brain but not in the testis and liver. The level increased during the daytime and decreased during the nighttime. Immunohistochemistry using an anti-Cirp antibody showed that Cirp was expressed in the nucleus of neurons and that the level of Cirp was diurnally regulated in the suprachiasmatic nucleus and the cerebral cortex. The diurnal regulation was not observed in the brain of adult mice kept in constant darkness nor that of 3-day-old mice. These findings suggest that Cirp plays a role in biological rhythms as known for plant proteins and that expression of Cirp is regulated differentially in discrete brain regions.