Postnatal ontogeny of striatal-enriched protein tyrosine phosphatase (STEP) in rat striatum.
The present study was undertaken to examine developmental change in expression of striatal-enriched protein tyrosine phosphatase (STEP) in the postnatal striatum of rats. For this purpose, immunohistochemical staining and transimmunoblotting analyses were carried out using a cDNA-generated polyclonal antibody to the STEP with a molecular weight of 46 kDa. Immunostaining showed that in neonatal striatum STEP-immunoreactivity was found in discrete patches composed of many immature cells, which corresponded to the tyrosine hydroxylase-immunopositive "dopamine islands." With development there was an increase in staining intensity and in the number of positively reacting cells. By 4 weeks postnatally, STEP-immunoreactivity was almost homogeneously distributed throughout the striatum, as was seen at the adult stage. Immunoblotting analysis showed that STEP protein expression abruptly increased from 2 to 4 weeks postnatally when it reached the adult level. These findings suggest that STEP is involved in development and maturation of the striatal neurons.
Okamura
A
A
Department of Neurosurgery, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Japan.
Goto
S
S
Nishi
T
T
Yamada
K
K
Yoshikawa
M
M
Ushio
Y
Y
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D015153:Blotting, Western; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology*; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D054558:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases, Non-Receptor; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013569:Synapses / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology
D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases; D054558:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases, Non-Receptor; C489931:Ptpn5 protein, rat