title: Microarray screen for synaptic genes in the neuromuscular junction.
abstract: The formation of neuromuscular synapses requires a complex exchange of signals between motor neurons and skeletal muscle fibers. Essential for the formation of neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is the activation of MuSK, a muscle-specific receptor tyrosine kinase (DeChiara et al., 1996). In mice lacking MuSK, motor axons fail to stop and differentiate, acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) fail to cluster, and AChR genes are expressed uniformly in muscle (DeChiara et al., 1996; Gautam et al., 1996). The retrograde signals for presynaptic differentiation are not known. Because synapse-specific transcription, like presynaptic differentiation, is MuSK-dependent, it is possible that retrograde signals for presynaptic differentiation might be encoded by genes that are expressed preferentially by synaptic nuclei. To identify such synapse-specific genes we screened Affymetrix microarrays with RNA from the dissected, synapse-enriched, and extrasynaptic regions of skeletal muscle and further studied those genes that encode for the secreted or cell-surface proteins.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathophysiology, Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia SI-1000. Marko.Jevsek@MF.UNI-LJ.SI
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jevsek
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Burden
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D051927:CD24 Antigen / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000502:physiology*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000235:genetics; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D051927:CD24 Antigen; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C513242:Etv5 protein, mouse; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase