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Expression of surface glycoproteins early in leech neural development
Author(s) -
McGladeMcCulloh Ellen,
Muller Kenneth J.,
Zipser Birgit
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.902990109
Subject(s) - leech , hirudo medicinalis , biology , epitope , glycoprotein , microbiology and biotechnology , neurite , nervous system , axon , growth cone , embryonic stem cell , fasciculation , neural development , axon guidance , neuroscience , immunology , antibody , biochemistry , world wide web , computer science , gene , in vitro
Cell migration and axon growth during neural development rely upon cell‐cell and cell‐matrix interactions mediated by surface glycoproteins. The surface glycoprotein recognized on leech neurons by monoclonal antibody Lan3‐2 has previously been implicated in the process of axon fasciculation during regeneration in adults. In adult leeches, Lan3‐2 binds to a carbohydrate epitope of a 130 kD protein. The present study demonstrates that in embryos the antibody binds to the same carbohydrate epitope of glycoproteins with molecular weights of 130 kD and higher. As a first step in evaluating a possible role of the Lan3‐2 glycoprotein or the cells that express it during neural development, we determined its distribution in the developing nervous system of the leech Hirudo medicinalis. In embryos, Lan3‐2 epitope is expressed on fasciculated sensory afferents and it appears on the cell bodies before neurite outgrowth. The sensory fibers appear rostrally by embryonic day 10, less than halfway through development. Earlier, by 7 days of development at 20°C, Lan3‐2 binds to previously undocumented cell types: (1) cells appearing along the embryonic midline and (2) a cluster of cells located at the rostral edge of the germinal plate. These cells only transiently express this antigen and are present at critical left‐right and rostrocaudal boundaries during a period of cell proliferation, movement, and migration that produces the nervous system. Thus the Lan3‐2 surface glycoprotein or the cells expressing it are candidates for involvement in axon fasciculation, cell migration, and directed axonal growth.