M. Ueno et al., Genomic organization, sequence and chromosomal localization of the mouse Tbr2 gene and a comparative study with Tbr1, GENE, 254(1-2), 2000, pp. 29-35
Members of the T-box family are known to play critical roles in the embryon
ic development of most animal species. Recently, we have isolated its new m
ammalian member, Tbr2, from mouse embryonic brain. We have also shown that
the expression patterns of Tbr2 and the closely related Tbr1 appear to be r
eciprocal in the developing brain; Tbr2 is expressed in mesencephalon and r
hombencephalon, but expression of Tbr1 is restricted to telencephalon. To i
nvestigate possible structural and functional relationships of Tbr2 and oth
er T-box containing genes, we analyzed genomic organization of the murine T
br2 gene. The Tbr2 gene is composed of six exons (1353, 155, 122, 159, 62 a
nd 1035 bp), and five introns (920, 643, 602, 85 and 2036 bp). This exon/in
tron organization is very similar to that of Tbr1. We also analyzed the 3.9
kb sequence of the 5' promoter region flanking the Tbr2 gene and the corre
sponding region of the Tbr1 gene. The sites for Brn-2 and Tst-1 were found
in the promoter of Tbr2 but not Tbr1. On the contrary, there were eight HNF
-3 beta binding sites in the Tbr1 gene promoter but only three in the Tbr2
promoter. The differential presence of putative binding sites for these bra
in-specific transcription factors may explain the reciprocal expression of
Thr1 and Tbr2. Furthermore, a single chromosomal locus for mouse Tbr2 was a
ssigned to 9F3 by fluorescence in-situ hybridization. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sci
ence B.V. All rights reserved.