title: Growth-associated protein-43 expression in the lens of rats and primates.
abstract: Growth-associated protein-43 is a specific neuronal protein that regulates differentiation, growth and plasticity. In the present study, growth-associated protein-43 expression was studied in the lens of rats and primates (including man) at different postnatal ages by immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Growth-associated protein-43 was expressed at all ages in primates and in developing, but not in adult rats. We demonstrate that the lens - a tissue that is devoid of nerves - expresses growth-associated protein-43 throughout life in primates, and in rats during development but not in adulthood. These results suggest that growth-associated protein-43 is involved in differentiation processes also outside the nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Ophthalmology, University Eye Hospital, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stupp
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naskar
authors.forename: Solon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thanos
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000379:methods; D002144:Callithrix; D019922:GAP-43 Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D019922:GAP-43 Protein