Changes in immediate early gene expression during postnatal development of cat cortex and cerebellum.
Postnatal brain development involves interactions between extracellular signals and preprogrammed genetic events. Immediate early genes (IEGs) are a group of genes that are induced by extracellular signals and their protein products alter transcription by binding regulatory elements in other genes. Using Northern and slot blot analysis of total RNA isolated from visual cortex, frontal cortex, and cerebellum of cats, we have determined the postnatal development patterns of mRNA expression for 5 of these genes, c-fos, erg-1, c-jun, jun-B, and c-myc. Each gene had a distinct developmental pattern of mRNA expression, and for a given gene, these patterns were often different in different brain structures. These results suggest that temporal changes in the combinatorial interaction of different IEGs during early postnatal life are important for normal brain development.
Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA.
M A
MA
McCormack
K M
KM
Rosen
L
L
Villa-Komaroff
G D
GD
Mower
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002415:Cats; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000254:growth & development*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000254:growth & development*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000254:growth & development; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D016762:Genes, fos; D016758:Genes, jun; D016259:Genes, myc; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases / Q000235:genetics; D011519:Proto-Oncogenes; D012313:RNA / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000254:growth & development; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors; D012313:RNA; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases