Novel brain-specific bovine cDNA for a developmentally regulated mRNA encoding a putative new member of the leucine-rich glycoprotein (LRG) family

Abstract

We have isolated a bovine cDNA which hybridized to a 2kb mRNA specifically expressed in the rat and human brain. The mRNA was abundantly expressed in adult but not 21-week old human brain. In the rat brain, there was very little of the transcript in 15-day old fetus but it increased in abundance with development, being most abundant in the adult and expressed in all brain regions. Genomic analysis showed that the sequence is single copy and conserved in all vertebrates examined, including chicken. The 702 bp partial cDNA encoded an amino acid sequence for a putative member of the leucine-rich glycoprotein (LRG) family known to be involved in cell adhesion/recognition. The predicted polypeptide displayed sequence identity with that recently reported for the human oligodendrocyte-myelin glycoprotein. This cDNA should prove useful in further investigations on brain-specific cell-cell interactions. © 1992 Plenum Publishing Corporation.