EXPRESSION OF THE JNK2-ALPHA-1 GENE IN THE DEVELOPING CHICK BRAIN

We have isolated chicken JNK2-alpha 1 encoding a c-Jun N-terminal kina se, and examined the expression during embryogenesis. The kinase domai n sequence is well conserved between chicken and mammals, but carboxy- terminal sequence of JNK is divergent from subtype 1 and 2, possibly d erived from alternative splicing. The JNK2-alpha 1 gene is preferentia lly expressed in the neuroepithelium of developing brain at stages 16- 26, and transcripts are not detectable in the other region including s pinal cord. These results suggest that JNK2-alpha 1 is involved in dev elopment of the central nervous system as a mediator of stress-activat ed protein kinase pathway conferring competence to the external stimul i such as growth factors. (C) 1997 Academic Press.