G-UTROPHIN, THE AUTOSOMAL HOMOLOG OF DYSTROPHIN DP116, IS EXPRESSED IN SENSORY GANGLIA AND BRAIN

The utrophin gene is closely related to the dystrophin gene in both se quence and genomic structure, The Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) lo cus encodes three 14-kb dystrophin transcripts in addition to several smaller isoforms, one of which, Dp116, is specific to peripheral nerve . We describe here the corresponding 5.5-kb mRNA from the utrophin loc us. This transcript, designated G-utrophin, is of particular interest because it is specifically expressed in the adult mouse brain and appe ars to be the predominant utrophin transcript in this tissue. G-utroph in is expressed in brain sites generally different from the regions ex pressing beta-dystroglycan, During mouse embryogenesis G-utrophin is a lso seen in the developing sensory ganglia, Our data confirm the close evolutionary relationships between the DMD and utrophin loci; however , the functions for the corresponding proteins probably differ.