DEVELOPMENTAL-CHANGES IN INTEGRIN BETA-SUBUNITS IN RAT CEREBRAL-CORTEX

The present study was carried out to characterize the developmental ex pression of beta 1-, beta 5- and beta 6-integrin subunits in rat cereb ral cortex. Using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reation, mRNA of the three beta-subunits were shown to be present at all developmen tal stages. Based on immunoblots, beta 1-subunit expression was decrea sed during cortical development from embryonic stages to adults. beta 6-subunit expression appeared only in adult cortex. beta 5-subunit exp ression did not change during development. These beta-subunits were ex pressed in cortical embryonic cells as revealed by immunological studi es in vitro. beta 5 and beta 6 were also present in neuronal cells and in oligodendrocytes in adult cortex. Altogether, these results demons trate that rat cerebral cortex expresses distinct integrin beta-subuni ts with different developmental profiles, This switch of beta-subunits may be an important mechanism for the regulation of cell behaviour du ring development. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.