Work

Molecular characterization of Br-cadherin, a developmentally regulated, brain-specific cadherin

Year: 1997

Type: article

Abstract: Cadherins are a family of transmembrane proteins that play a crucial role in cell adhesion and in morphogenesis. Several of the cadherins are expressed in the nervous system, but none is neuron-specific. We characterize a new member of the cadherin family, Br-cadherin, which is present exclusively in the central nervous system. Although the Br-cadherin protein is confined to the central nervous system, its mRNA is present in several additional tissues, suggesting that there is posttranscriptional control of this gene's expression. Within the central nervous system, Br-cadherin appears to be expressed specifically by neurons. In the mouse, its expression becomes detectable during the first postnatal week, which corresponds temporally to the onset of synaptogenesis and dendrite outgrowth in the brain. This pattern of expression is consistent with a role for Br-cadherin in neuronal development, perhaps specifically with synaptogenesis.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.94.6.2398

Authors: Sara Selig, Hart G. W. Lidov, Sandra A. Bruno, Michael M. Segal, Louis M. Kunkel

Institutions: Boston Children's Hospital, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Cell Adhesion Molecules Research

Subfield: Immunology and Allergy

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: GENETIC AND CYTOGENETIC STUDIES OF MENTAL RETARDATION, CLONING OF A 120 KD OLFACTORY DYSTROPHIN TRANSCRIPT, G689141124, G8199797071