EXPRESSION OF THE DYSTROPHIN-RELATED PROTEIN-2 (DRP2) TRANSCRIPT IN THE MOUSE

We have recently characterised a new member of the dystrophin gene fam ily, DRP2, and its murine counterpart, Drp2, which encode dystrophin-r elated protein 2 (DRP2). DRP2 is predicted to resemble certain short C -terminal isoforms of dystrophin and dystrophin-related protein 1 (DRP 1 or utrophin). We describe here a comprehensive survey of Drp2 expres sion in the mouse by RT-PCR, and compare the expression profile of Drp 2 with that of the related genes Dmd, Drp1 and Dag1 that encode all th e known isoforms of dystrophin, DRP1/utrophin and a component of the d ystrophin-associated protein complex, dystroglycan, respectively. Drp2 was shown to be expressed throughout the central nervous system (CNS) and in several peripheral tissues including the eye, kidney, teeth, o esophagus, colon, epididymis and ovary. The expression of Drp2 in the CNS was then further defined by in situ hybridization. Overall, the pa ttern of Drp2 expression corresponds to a subset of the brain regions known to express Dag1, and shows substantial overlap with regions that express various isoforms of dystrophin (particularly in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum). These data define the distributio n of Drp2 expression in the mouse, and raise the possibility that in t he CNS it may be an important component in neuronal dystrophin-associa ted complexes. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.