The expression profiles of neurotrophins and their receptors in rat and chicken tissues during development

Neurotrophic factors are target-derived proteins that promote the survival and differentiation of the innervating neurons. Increasing evidence indicat e the involvement of these factors and receptors during the formation and m aturation of the neuromuscular junction. To gain further insight on the exp ression pattern of these factors and receptors in developing spinal cord an d skeletal muscle during the critical stages of synapse formation, a system atic study was performed with chicken and rat tissues using Northern blot a nalysis. The expression of all the neurotrophins was detected in skeletal m uscle early in development, coincidental with the appearance of their corre sponding receptors in the spinal cord. Taken together, the similar regulato ry patterns observed in both rat and chicken tissues suggest that the poten tial roles of neurotrophins at the neuromuscular synapse are conserved thro ughout evolution. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserve d.