Dr E, Martens Research Group for Biological Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
BMC Neurosci. 2013 Jul 11;14:68. doi: 10.1186/1471-2202-14-68.
The neocortex is a highly specialised and complex brain structure, involved in numerous tasks, ranging from processing and interpretation of somatosensory information, to control of motor functions. The normal function linked to distinct neocortical areas might involve control of highly specific gene expression, and in order to identify such regionally enriched genes, we previously analysed the global gene expression in three different cortical regions (frontomedial, temporal and occipital cortex) from the adult rat brain. We identified distinct sets of differentially expressed genes. One of these genes, namely the hypothetical protein LOC689986 (LOC689986), was of particular interest, due to an almost exclusive expression in the temporal cortex.
Detailed analysis of LOC689986 in the adult rat brain confirmed the expression in confined areas of parieto-temporal cortex, and revealed highly specific expression in layer 4 of the somatosensory cortex, with sharp borders towards the neighbouring motor cortex. In addition, LOC689986 was found to be translated in vivo, and was detected in the somatosensory cortex and in the Purkinje cells of the cerebellar cortex. The protein was present in neuronal dendrites and also in astrocyte cells. Finally, this unique gene is apparently specific for, and highly conserved in, the vertebrate lineage.
In this study, we have partially characterised the highly conserved LOC689986 gene, which is specific to the vertebrate linage. The gene displays a distinct pattern of expression in layer 4 of the somatosensory cortex, and areas of the parieto-temporal cortex in rodents.
大脑皮层是一种高度特化和复杂的脑结构，参与众多任务，从躯体感觉信息的处理和解释，到运动功能的控制。与特定大脑皮层区域相关的正常功能可能涉及到高度特异的基因表达调控，为了鉴定这些区域特异性富集的基因，我们先前分析了成年大鼠大脑三个不同皮质区域（额-内侧、颞和枕叶皮质）的全基因组表达。我们鉴定了一组差异表达基因。其中一个基因，即假设蛋白 LOC689986（LOC689986），由于其在颞叶皮层中的特异性表达而特别引人注目。
对成年大鼠大脑中 LOC689986 的详细分析证实了其在顶-颞皮质特定区域的表达，并揭示了其在体感皮层第 4 层的高度特异性表达，与相邻的运动皮层边界分明。此外，LOC689986 在体内被翻译，并在体感皮层和小脑皮质的浦肯野细胞中被检测到。该蛋白存在于神经元树突和星形胶质细胞中。最后，这个独特的基因显然是脊椎动物谱系所特有的，并且高度保守。
在这项研究中，我们部分阐明了高度保守的 LOC689986 基因，该基因是脊椎动物谱系所特有的。该基因在啮齿动物体感皮层第 4 层和顶-颞皮质区域表现出独特的表达模式。
