THE N-ETHYLMALEIMIDE-SENSITIVE FUSION PROTEIN (NSF) IS PREFERENTIALLYEXPRESSED IN THE NERVOUS-SYSTEM

NSF and SNAPs (soluble NSF attachment proteins), originally identified as cytosolic components of intracellular vesicular transport mechanis ms, have recently been implicated in Ca2+-triggered neurotransmitter r elease from synaptic terminals. Here, we have investigated the tempora l and spatial expression pattern of the rodent NSF and SNAP genes. A s ingle transcript of 4.5 kb is highly expressed in rat brain, whereas o nly minor amounts of NSF mRNA are found in liver, kidney, heart, lung and skeletal muscle. In situ hybridisation revealed NSF transcripts as early as embryonic day 10 preferentially in the nervous system of mou se embryos. In the adult brain NSF is widely expressed with particular ly high levels in the hippocampus. An identical expression profile was observed for alpha/beta-SNAP. Our data are consistent with a central function of NSF and SNAPs in neurotransmission.