title: Chromatin organization in the rat hypothalamus during early development.
abstract: The organization of chromatin in neuronal and glial nuclei isolated from different brain regions of rats during development was studied by digestion of nuclei with micrococcal nuclease. A short chromatin repeat length (approx. 176 base-pairs compared with that of glial nuclei from foetal cerebral cortex (approx. 200 base-pairs) was present in hypothalamic neurons throughout the ages studied, which was similar to the repeat length of cortical neurons from 7- and 25-day-old animals (approx. 174 base-pairs). Whereas in cortical neurons the chromatin repeat length shortened from approx. 200 base-pairs in the foetus to approx. 174 base-pairs in the first postnatal week, the short chromatin repeat length of hypothalamic neurons was already present 2 days before birth, indicating that hypothalamic neurons differentiate earlier than cortical neurons during brain development.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development*; D001482:Base Composition; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002843:Chromatin / Q000032:analysis*; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000032:analysis / Q000254:growth & development*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D004247:DNA