Smeyne R J, Oberdick J, Schilling K, Berrebi A S, Mugnaini E, Morgan J I
Department of Neurosciences, Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, Roche Research Center, Nutley, NJ 07110.
Science. 1991 Nov 1;254(5032):719-21. doi: 10.1126/science.1948052.
The cerebellum has many properties that make it a useful model for investigating neural development. Purkinje cells, the major output neurons of the cerebellar cortex, have drawn special attention because of the availability of biochemical markers and mutants that affect their development. The spatial expression of L7, a protein specific for Purkinje cells, and L7 beta Gal, a gene expressed in transgenic mice that was constructed from the L7 promoter and the marker beta-galactosidase, delineated bands of Purkinje cells that increased in number during early postnatal development. Expression of the transgene in adult reeler mutant mice, which show inverted cortical lamination, and in primary culture showed that the initial expression of L7 is intrinsic to Purkinje cells and does not depend on extracellular signals. This may reflect an underlying developmental map in cerebellum.
小脑具有许多特性，使其成为研究神经发育的有用模型。浦肯野细胞是小脑皮质的主要输出神经元，由于存在影响其发育的生化标记物和突变体，因而受到特别关注。L7是一种浦肯野细胞特有的蛋白质，L7β半乳糖苷酶是由L7启动子和标记物β-半乳糖苷酶构建的转基因小鼠中表达的基因，它们的空间表达描绘出了浦肯野细胞带，这些细胞带在出生后早期发育过程中数量增加。该转基因在成年reeler突变小鼠（其表现出皮质层倒置）和原代培养中的表达表明，L7的初始表达是浦肯野细胞固有的，不依赖于细胞外信号。这可能反映了小脑潜在的发育图谱。
