CD44 and cancer: AS analysis revealed an increase in alternative first exon events specific to PER2 and NR1D1 KO in HCT116 cells, and a KO-specific change in expression and rhythmicity pattern of AS transcripts related to cancer hallmarks genes including FGFR2 in HCT116_ARNTLKO, CD44 in HCT116_NR1D1KO, and MET in HCT116_PER2KO.