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D I Gottlieb

Publications and source records attributed to D I Gottlieb.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Characterization of a cDNA coding for rat glutamic acid decarboxylase.

cDNA clones have been isolated for rat glutamic acid decarboxylase (glutamate decarboxylase; EC 4.1.1.15) (GAD) and 3216 bp of the sequence have been determined. This sequence extends the previously reported feline GAD cDNA sequence both in the 5' (67 bp) and 3' (887 bp) directions and contains the polyadenylation signal and tail. The cDNA codes for a 67 kDa mol. wt. protein beginning from the putative initiator methionine found in the feline sequence. Extensive homology to feline GAD was identified at the amino acid level (97% identity) within the coding region. This interspecies homology is high compared to other neurotransmitter synthesizing enzymes and suggests selective pressure to maintain the primary sequence throughout the full length of the protein. Homology is found 5' to the putative initiator methionine. Extensive stretches of homology are also found in the 3' non-coding region. These conserved non-coding regions may play a role in GAD mRNA regulation. The rat cDNA sequence will facilitate investigations into the structure and regulation of the GAD gene.

Amino Acid Sequence

Localization of the NGFI-A protein in the rat brain.

Antibodies are used to localize the NGFI-A protein in the rat brain. The protein is found in a wide variety of neurons. However, not all neurons are stained. The protein is either absent or present at undetectable levels in glial cells. Neuronal nuclei stain intensely, cytoplasmic staining is lighter. Seizures cause a detectable increase in the intensity of staining.

Amino Acid Sequence

Developmentally regulated expression of an exon containing a stop codon in the gene for glutamic acid decarboxylase.

In the adult rat brain, the gene for glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD; L-glutamate 1-carboxy-lyase, EC 4.1.1.15) is expressed predominantly as a 3.7-kilobase transcript. Earlier data showed that embryonic brain expresses an RNA transcript distinct from the adult form; however, the exact structure of this form was not elucidated. Here, transcripts expressed in the embryonic but not the adult brain were cloned and analyzed. These transcripts include an exon not expressed in the adult inserted into coding sequence. The embryonic exon contains a stop codon that is in-frame with the coding sequence. The exon is found in genomic DNA within the GAD gene where it is flanked by introns with conventional splice sites. On the basis of these structural data, we propose the hypothesis that, early in brain development, transcripts encoding a truncated form of GAD are expressed. The deduced protein cannot function as a decarboxylase because the stop codon in the embryonic exon occurs upstream of the binding site for pyridoxal phosphate, an essential cofactor. Thus, alternative splicing plays a crucial role in the pathway leading to the development of functional GABAergic neurons. The central nervous system-derived cell lines B65 and C6 express a mixture of the adult and embryonic forms of GAD mRNA. They therefore are useful clonal models of central nervous system cells in the early phases of differentiation.

Age Factors

Monoclonal antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase.

Five monoclonal antibodies that recognize chicken brain glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) have been selected and designated GAD-1 to -5. GAD-1 to -5 were selected on the basis of their ability to immunoprecipitate active GAD from crude brain extracts. GAD-1 recognizes an epitope that is conserved in many vertebrates; the epitope recognized by GAD-5 is restricted to the chicken. Radioimmunoassays with GAD-1 indicate that GAD is highly enriched in brain relative to other tissues. GAD was localized immunocytochemically with GAD-1 and GAD-2 in rat cerebellum, spinal cord, and retina. The staining pattern is in agreement with that obtained previously with polyclonal antisera to GAD. GAD from the chicken brain was purified by chromatography on an immunoaffinity column made of GAD-1. NaDodSO4/PAGE analysis of the immunoaffinity-purified GAD fractions shows a major band of 59 kDa and minor bands at 63 and 54 kDa.

Animals

Studies on cell recognition in the developing brain.

Several lines of evidence demonstrate cell-cell receptors on the surface of developing brain cells. Plasma membrane vesicles with regional and temporal binding specificities can be prepared. Active factors that block cell aggregation can be extracted from these membranes and partially purified. Quantitative studies of cell-cell adhesion demonstrate a gradient of adhesive specificity along the dorsoventral axis of the developing retina.

Animals

A gradient of adhesive specificity in developing avian retina.

Cell-cell adhesion was examined in the developing chick neural retina. A dorsoventral gradient of adhesive specificity in dissociated cells was detected which exhibits a complementarity such that the highest cell-cell affinities are exhibited between cells derived from the extremes of the gradient. If a nasotemporal gradient exists it must exhibit significantly lower cell-cell affinity. The relevance of these findings to pattern formation in the nervous system is discussed.

Age Factors

Embryonal cell surface recognition. Extraction of an active plasma membrane component.

Plasma membranes obtained from different neural regions of the chicken embryo have previously been shown to specifically bind to homotypic cells and prevent cell aggregation (Merrell, R., and Glaser, L. (1973) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 70, 2794-2798). Proteins responsible for the specific inhibition of cell aggregation have been solubilized from the plasma membrane of neural retina and optic tectum by delipidation with acetone followed by extraction with lithium diiodosalicylate. The extracts show the same regional and temporal specificity as previously shown for plasma membrane recognition by the same cells (Gottlieb, D. I., Merrell, R., and Glaser, L. (1974) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 71, 1800-1802). Two micrograms of the most purified protein fraction inhibits the aggregation of 2.5 times 10(-4) cells under standard assay conditions. This represents a 20-fold increase in specific activity compared to whole membranes.

Animals

An autoradiographic study of the time of origin and the pattern of granule cell migration in the dentate gyrus of the rat.

The dentate gyrus of the rat contains about 600,000 granule cells. These small neurons are generated over a prolonged period from the 14th day of gestation until some time after the second postnatal week. The majority of the cells pass through their last phase of DNA synthesis in the postnatal period, and during the peak period of cell generation, between the fifth and seventh days after birth, up to 50,000 granule cells are formed each day. Contrary to earlier reports, most of the cells pass through their last mitotic division either within the stratum granulosum itself, or within the hilar region of the developing gyrus. The precursor population of cells in the hilar region must therefore constitute a pool of true neuroblasts. The origin of this pool of cells has not been definitely established but it seems probable that its cells are derived from the neuroepithelium lining the lateral ventricle adjacent to the region from which the hippocampal pyramidal cells are generated. Examination of the final location of granule cells labeled at different stages reveals three distinct morphogenetic gradients in the gyrus. The cells in the dorsal blade tend to be formed earlier than those in the ventral blade; cells in the more caudal (or temporal) portions of the gyrus are generated earlier than those in more rostral (or septal) regions; and in all regions the more superficial neurons in the stratum granulosum are formed earlier than the deeper granule cells. The bearing of some of these findings on the development and organization of the connections of the dentate gyrus is discussed.

Animals