CLONING AND EXPRESSION ANALYSIS OF CADHERIN-10 IN THE CNS OF THE CHICKEN-EMBRYO

A full-length cDNA of a novel cadherin of chicken (cad10) was cloned. The deduced amino acid sequence of the putative cytoplasmic domain of this molecule is highly homologous to a previously published cytoplasm ic fragment of human cadherin-10, a type II cadherin. An in situ hybri dization analysis in chicken embryos shows that cad10 expression start s at about 4 days' incubation (E4) and persists at least until the hat ching stage. In the central nervous system (CNS), cad10 expression is spatially restricted at all stages of development. At early stages, ex pression reflects the neuromeric organization of the brain. For exampl e, in the alar plate of the diencephalon, cad10 expression is restrict ed to the dorsal thalamic neuromere. A number of cad10-expressing brai n nuclei are formed in this neuromeric domain during later development . Specific cad10-expressing gray matter structures are also found in a ll other major divisions of the brain. Many of these structures are kn own to be functionally connected to each other. The cad10 expression p attern is distinct from that of other cadherins. These results support the idea that cadherins provide a molecular code for the regionalizat ion of the embryonic CNS at the different stages of development. (C) 1 997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.