title: Expression of spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase in the Müller glial cells of the developing chick retina.
abstract: A number of genes have been found to be asymmetrically expressed along the three axes of the retina: central-peripheral, dorsal-ventral, temporal-nasal. Some of the asymmetrically expressed genes have been shown to play a role in the establishment of boundaries required for guiding retinal axons to their correct targets in the brain. Asymmetric expression during development can also be a consequence of the different rates of differentiation along the three retinal axes. The authors have used a differential-display-PCR approach to identify genes asymmetrically expressed along the dorsal-ventral axis in the chick retina. One of the selected genes, spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase (SSAT), was preferentially expressed in the dorsal-temporal quadrant of the developing retina. There was a sharp increase in retinal SSAT mRNA levels during the transition stage from proliferation (E7) to early differentiation (E10). SSAT mRNA was found in Müller glial cells and its distribution pattern in these cells closely followed the three differentiation axes of the developing retina, with a central-dorsal-temporal preference. The elevated levels of SSAT mRNA in Müller glial cells may reflect a requirement for acetylated spermine/spermidine or putrescine in the differentiating neuronal cells of the retina.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, Cross Cancer Institute, 11560 University Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 1Z2, Canada.
authors.forename: Rhonda L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Witte
authors.forename: Roseline
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Godbout
mesh_terms: D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D002642:Chick Embryo; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017403:In Situ Hybridization / Q000379:methods; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012160:Retina / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity; D000099228:Diamine N-Acetyltransferase
chemical_list: D000123:Acetyltransferases; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D000099228:Diamine N-Acetyltransferase