title: Polysialylated NCAM expression during motor axon outgrowth and myogenesis in the fetal rat.
abstract: Polysialylation of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) converts it into an anti-adhesive molecule, attenuating intercellular adhesion and repelling apposed membranes. Previous studies have demonstrated that interaxonal repulsion, or defasciculation, induced by polysialylated NCAM (PSA-NCAM) expressed along outgrowing chick motor axons promotes intramuscular branching and facilitates differential guidance of segregating axonal populations. In the present study, we have examined the expression of PSA-NCAM in a developing mammalian motor system during axonal outgrowth, separation of distinct axonal populations, and intramuscular branching. Furthermore, we provide the first clear demonstration of the spatiotemporal modulation of PSA-NCAM expression on myotubes during each stage of myogenesis. Immunohistochemical labelling was used to compare the spatiotemporal pattern of PSA-NCAM expression with those of total-NCAM, the cell adhesion molecule L1, and growth associated protein (GAP-43) during development of the phrenic nerve and diaphragm of fetal rats (embryonic days, E11-E19). During segregation of phrenic and brachial axonal populations at the brachial plexus (E12.5-E13), PSA-NCAM expression was restricted to phrenics, being absent from brachial motoneurons. Both populations labelled equivalently for NCAM, L1, and GAP-43. We postulate that PSA-NCAM may be a component of the molecular machinery that specifically guides phrenic motoneuron growth at the brachial plexus. During diaphragmatic morphogenesis, PSA-NCAM expression: (i) remained high within the phrenic nerve throughout intramuscular branching; (ii) was transiently up-regulated on myotubes during myotube separation associated with primary and secondary myogenesis; (iii) was restricted to those regions of primary and secondary myotube membranes, which were juxtaposed and about to separate. These data suggest a role for PSA-NCAM in the guidance of specific subsets of mammalian motoneurons and in intramuscular branching, and demonstrate an intimate correlation between PSA-NCAM expression and myotube separation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. dallan@physio.med.ualberta.ca
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Allan
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Greer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism*; D001704:Biopolymers; D001917:Brachial Plexus / Q000196:embryology; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009132:Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D019006:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D010791:Phrenic Nerve / Q000196:embryology; D051381:Rats; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000196:embryology
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers; D019006:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid