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Selection of brain specific cDNA clones and identification of their protein products
Author(s) -
Milner R.J.,
Bloom F.E.,
Sutcliffe J.G.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1016/0736-5748(83)90258-7
Subject(s) - library science , citation , computer science
We have isolated and characterized a family of genes that governs egg laying and its associated behavior in the gastropod mollusc Aplysia. Each gene encodes a polyprotein which is cleaved to generate a set of related peptides which act as neurotransmitters and hormones. Using indirect immunofluorescence with an antibody to ELH (the egg laying hormone) and insitu hybridization with 125I labeled cloned DNA probes we have studied the distribution of cells that express members of the gene family. An exocrine tissue, the atrial gland, and a network of interneurons distributed throughout the CNS were shown to express non-overlapping subsets of the gene family. Investigations of juvenile animals have demonstrated that the neurons arise from a proliferative zone in the ecoderm of the inner body wall. These cells then appear to migrate to their final positions in the adult CNS. The fact that the cells are expressing transmitter genes while still in the caudal area along the body wall suggest that lineage determines their fate and that interactions with other cells during or after migration are not required to activate the neuropeptide genes.