Stable protein made from Rev-erbalpha2 mRNA may help control the body’s daily biological clock

REV-ERBalpha1 is expressed one to 100 times more than REV-ERBalpha2, depending on tissue and circadian time.

• Circadian rhythms are regulated by a complex network involving transcriptional loops and posttranslational modifications.
• REV-ERBalpha plays a critical role in the circadian clock, with its expression oscillating on a 24-hour cycle.
• Two protein variants of REV-ERBalpha, REV-ERBalpha1 and -alpha2, have been identified, with distinct biological functions.
• REV-ERBalpha2 has a half-life that is incompatible with circadian function, suggesting it may not participate in the same regulatory processes as REV-ERBalpha1.
• Both variants exhibit similar DNA-binding properties and transcriptional repression activities, indicating a conserved regulatory mechanism.
• The turnover of REV-ERBalpha2 decreases when coexpressed with REV-ERBalpha1, suggesting that their relative expression levels influence circadian period length.

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