Nitric oxide synthase in the nervous system and ink gland of the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis: molecular cloning and expression.
Nitric oxide (NO) signaling is involved in numerous physiological processes in mollusks, e.g., learning and memory, feeding behavior, neural development, and defence response. We report the first molecular cloning of NOS mRNA from a cephalopod, the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (SoNOS). SoNOS was cloned using a strategy that involves hybridization of degenerate PCR primers to highly conserved NOS regions, combined with RACE procedure. Two splicing variants of SoNOS, differing by 18 nucleotides, were found in the nervous system and the ink gland of Sepia. In situ hybridization shows that SoNOS is expressed in the immature and mature cells of the ink gland and in the regions of the nervous system that are related to the ink defence system.
Scheinker
Vladimir
V
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, P.O. Box 100, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.
Fiore
Gabriella
G
Di Cristo
Carlo
C
Di Cosmo
Anna
A
d'Ischia
Marco
M
Enikolopov
Grigori
G
Palumbo
Anna
A
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000201:enzymology*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular / Q000379:methods; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D049833:Sepia / Q000201:enzymology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase