title: Induction of alpha1-tubulin gene expression during development and regeneration of the fish central nervous system.
abstract: The alpha1- and alpha2-tubulin encoding genes were cloned from a goldfish genomic DNA library. alpha1- and alpha2-tubulin RNA expression was examined in developing and adult retinas. These studies demonstrated increased alpha1-tubulin RNA in presumptive ganglion cells that grow axons early in retinal development and in adult retinal ganglion cells whose optic axons had been damaged. The alpha2-tubulin RNA was undetectable in developing retina and constitutively expressed in adult retinal ganglion cells regardless of optic nerve crush. To determine if these changes in alpha1-tubulin RNA reflected changes in alpha1-tubulin promoter activity, we introduced into zebrafish embryos and adult goldfish retinal explants expression vectors harboring the alpha1-tubulin gene's promoter. These studies showed that the alpha1-tubulin promoter confers a developmentally regulated, neuron-restricted pattern of reporter gene expression in vivo and its activity is increased in adult retinal neurons induced to regenerate their axons. Promoter deletions defined regions of alpha1-tubulin DNA necessary for this pattern of expression. These results suggest that DNA sequences necessary for alpha1-tubulin gene induction during central nervous system development and regeneration are contained within the alpha1-tubulin gene's 5'-flanking DNA and that this promoter will be useful for identifying these elements and their DNA binding proteins.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Research Institute and Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, USA.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hieber
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Foreman
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goldman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D016678:Genome; D006054:Goldfish / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D020221:Optic Nerve Injuries; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D012260:Ribonucleases; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014404:Tubulin / Q000235:genetics*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D014404:Tubulin; D012260:Ribonucleases