Isolation and expression analysis of tyro3, a murine growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase preferentially expressed in adult brain.

Growth factors and their receptors function in the nervous system to induce proliferation and differentiation of neuronal precursor cells and to support survival of mature neurons. We have isolated a murine growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase using an anti-phosphotyrosine antibody screening procedure and studied the pattern of expression. The deduced amino acid sequence of the kinase has all the characteristics of a growth factor receptor and consists of a putative extracellular domain, a transmembrane domain, and a tyrosine kinase domain. Sequence comparison with known receptor tyrosine kinases indicated that the murine kinase is a mouse homolog of tyro3. tyro3 belongs to the Axl/Ufo growth factor receptor family. In the putative extracellular domain, there are two Ig-like domains and two fibronectin type III repeats which are conserved in other members of the Axl/Ufo family receptors. Northern blot hybridization analysis showed that tyro3 is expressed at high levels in the brain of adult mice, although considerable expression was also observed in the testis. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that high levels of tyro3 are expressed in the cerebral cortex, the lateral septum, the hippocampus, the olfactory bulb, and in the cerebellum. The highest levels of tyro3 expression in the brain are associated with neurons. The preferential expression of tyro3 in specific regions of the adult mouse brain suggests that tyro3 may function as a novel neurotrophic factor receptor.