title: Multiple developmental roles of Ahnak are suggested by localization to sites of placentation and neural plate fusion in the mouse conceptus.
abstract: Ahnak is a gigantic (700 kD) phosphoprotein with a unique structure whose expression and cellular localization are dynamically regulated during cell cycle progression. Here, we report that Ahnak is localized to sites of major morphogenesis during mouse placentation and neurulation. Ahnak was found in: (i) derivatives of trophectoderm, including chorionic ectoderm prior to and during union with the ectoplacental cone, presumptive syncytiotrophoblast cells in the chorionic labyrinth, and giant cells at the trophoblast-uterine interface; (ii) the allantois prior to, during, and after union with the chorion; and (iii) the tips of the neural plate during formation of the neural tube. On the basis of these observations, we suggest that Ahnak may play heretofore unrecognized roles in tissue union during normal mouse development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706, USA. kdowns@facstaff.wisc.edu
authors.forename: Karen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Downs
authors.forename: Jacalyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McHugh
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Copp
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shtivelman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004475:Ectoderm / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice / Q000196:embryology; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010929:Placentation / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: C489572:Ahnak protein, mouse; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins