Analysis of protein variations in adult and postnatal day 11 staggerer and lurcher mutant mice.

As an initial attempt at uncovering the molecular basis of cerebellar synaptogenic defects in the lurcher and staggerer mutant mice, the pattern of protein expression was compared between cerebellar and non-cerebellar tissues, between normal and mutant mice and between early postnatal and adult developmental stages. While cerebellar and mutation-specific alterations in the expression of proteins could be easily observed in adult tissues, no such alterations were observed in early postnatal lurcher mice and only one qualitatively unique protein species could reproducibly be identified in early postnatal staggerer mice.