Developmentally regulated expression of mtprd, the murine ortholog of tprd, a gene from the Down syndrome chromosomal region 1

Thr gene tprd. which contains three tetratricopeptide domains, has been rec ently localized in the Down syndrome (DS) chromosomal region 1. We have clo ned a cDNA encoding part of the murine ortholog of tprd and used it to char acterize the expression pattern of this gene during development and at the adult stage. At E8.5 the expression is uniform. In the later stages of embr yogenesis, although expression remains ubiquitous, a pattern of tissues wit h particularly high expression develops: the strong expression is restricte d to non proliferating zones of the nervous system such as the external lay er of the cortex, the spinal cord, the cranial and root ganglia and the ner ves. In the brain of adult mouse the strongest signals are observed in laye rs II-III and V-VI of the cortex, in the hippocampus and in the cerebellum, which correspond to the abnormal brain regions seen in DS patients. (C) 19 99 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.