title: Expression of the Ste20-like kinase SLK during embryonic development and in the murine adult central nervous system.
abstract: Cell growth and terminal differentiation are controlled by complex signaling cascades that regulate the expression of specific subsets of genes controlling cell fate and morphogenic processes. We have recently cloned and characterized a novel Ste20-like kinase termed SLK (Sabourin et al., Mol. Cel. Biol. 20 (2000) 684). However, the specific function of SLK is poorly understood. To gain further insights into the role of SLK we have characterized its activity, expression and distribution in the CNS during embryonic development and in the adult brain. Although SLK is expressed ubiquitously in adult tissues, our results show that it is expressed preferentially in neuronal lineages during development. We find that SLK is preferentially expressed in the neurons and neuroepithelium of the developing embryo and can be detected at 10.5 and 12.5 days post-coitum (dpc) in the forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain of the developing CNS. At later stages (14.5 dpc), SLK is expressed in the hypothalamus region, all layers of the neural tube, dorsal root ganglion and in the proliferating ependymal layers. Surprisingly, following middle cerebral artery occlusion, SLK expressing neuronal cells are lost and SLK is localized to phagocytic macrophages/microglia. These results suggest a functional role for SLK in early neuronal development as well as in the adult CNS.
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Health Research Institute, Neuroscience Program, Ontario, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Yi Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Karri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hume
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cadonic
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hakim
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Staines
authors.forename: Luc A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Sabourin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000502:physiology; D016923:Cell Death / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000201:enzymology*; D005333:Fetus; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000201:enzymology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000201:enzymology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D017628:Microglia / Q000201:enzymology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000201:enzymology; D032446:Myoblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D014404:Tubulin / Q000378:metabolism; D000099317:Hippo Kinases
chemical_list: D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D014404:Tubulin; C462941:beta3 tubulin, mouse; C402650:SLK protein, mouse; D000099317:Hippo Kinases