Expression of the basic Helix-Loop-Helix ME1 E-protein during development and aging of the murine cerebellum.
Genesis of cerebellar granule cells is controlled by key transcription factors, such as the lineage-specific basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) transcription factor MATH-1, whose activity is dependent upon dimerization with bHLH E-proteins. In an effort to understand the molecular mechanisms of bHLH proteins orchestrating cerebellar development, we explored the spatio-temporal expression of the ME1 E-protein. Our results reveal that ME1 expression is first detected in the cerebellar primordium and then in the rhombic lip cells at E12.5. Its expression persists in the emerging external germinal layer during embryonic expansion. In adult cerebellum, prominent ME1 expression is detected in mature granule cells located in the internal granular layer. However, ME1 expression is not sustained in aged cerebellum. A similar declined pattern of expression is also observed in the aging hippocampus.
Uittenbogaard
M
M
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
Chiaramello
A
A
D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018257:Helix-Loop-Helix Motifs; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C500943:Atoh1 protein, mouse; C489532:Tcf12 protein, mouse