Expression of the ceramide galactosyltransferase gene during myelination of the mouse nervous system. Comparison with the genes encoding myelin basic proteins, choline kinase and CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase.

The present study documents the patterns of mRNA expression for the ceramide galactosyltransferase (CGT), the CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CT), and the choline kinase (CK) during the myelination period of the mouse central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS). Using the Northern blot technique with densitometric analyses, we show that the CK gene is not developmentally regulated during the period studied, whereas a peak of expression of the CT gene is observed around day 10. On the other hand, the expression of the CGT gene is similar to that of the MBP gene in the CNS and the PNS. Therefore, the synthesis of the galactosylceramides during the myelination period seems to be controlled at the level of the expression of the CGT gene. These results were compared to those of a neurological mutant, the trembler mouse, whose PNS myelination is deficient. Our results clearly indicate that the deficit in the accumulation of the galactosylceramides documented for this mutant is well correlated to a reduced CGT gene expression.