Neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) expression during cardiac development in the rat.
Neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) expression was examined in the rat heart using immunohistochemical and immunochemical techniques. N-CAM immunoreactivity was displayed by myocardial cells from embryonic day E12 and by cardiac nerves when first identified at day E18. Myocardial immunostaining increased up until about postnatal day 1 and then declined rapidly thereafter whereas neural immunoreactivity persisted in the adult. N-CAM cardiac isoforms also exhibited developmental changes from the main embryonic moieties (105 and 145 kDa) to the principal postnatal (125 and 155 kDa) and adult isoforms (125 kDa). Cardiac N-CAM expression is therefore subject to temporal regulation and may modulate cellular interactions in the developing heart.
Wharton
J
J
Department of Histochemistry, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, U.K.
Gordon
L
L
Walsh
F S
FS
Flanigan
T P
TP
Moore
S E
SE
Polak
J M
JM
D000818:Animals; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000378:metabolism*; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006321:Heart / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development*; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D000954:Antigens, Surface; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules