Stephanie Bielas | PubMed Health

PubMed2004

Transgenic mouse line with green-fluorescent protein-labeled Centrin 2 allows visualization of the centrosome in living cells.

The centrosome plays diverse roles throughout the cellular mitotic cycle and in post-mitotic cells. Analysis of centrosome position and dynamics in living murine cells has been limited due to a lack of adequate reporters and currently requires either cell fixation/immunostaining or transfection with centrosome reporters. Here we describe the generation and characterization of a transgenic mouse line that constitutively expresses green fluorescent protein-labeled Centrin-2 (GFP-CETN2). The phenotype of the mouse is indistinguishable from wild-type and it displays a single pair of fluorescent centrioles in cells of every organ and time point examined. This model will be helpful for visualizing the centrosome in multiple experimental conditions.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Cortical neuronal migration mutants suggest separate but intersecting pathways.

During brain development, neurons migrate great distances from proliferative zones to generate the cortical gray matter. A series of studies has identified genes that are critical for migration and targeting of neurons to specific brain regions. These genes encode three basic groups of proteins and produce three distinct phenotypes. The first group encodes cytoskeletal molecules and produces graded and dosage-dependent effects, with a significant amount of functional redundancy. This group also appears to play important roles during the initiation and ongoing progression of neuronal movement. The second group encodes signaling molecules for which homozygous mutations lead to an inverted cortex. In addition, this group is responsible for movement of neurons through anatomic boundaries to specific cortical layers. The third group encodes enzymatic regulators of glycosylation and appears to delineate where neuronal migration will arrest. There is significant cross-talk among these different groups of molecules, suggesting possible points of pathway convergence.

Animals↗