Characteristic expressions of the natriuretic peptide family in the telencephalon of juvenile chick.

Characteristic expressions of the natriuretic peptide family in the telencephalon of juvenile chick. Brain Res. 2018 Dec 05;: Authors: Nakamori T, Chiba Y, Fujitani K, Makita A, Okubo T, Hirai K, Takamatsu N, Ohki-Hamazaki H Abstract Elucidation of the genes regulating the critical (sensitive) period of imprinting behavior may shed light on the mechanism underlying neural plasticity in early childhood learning. We focused on the family of natriuretic peptides (NPs) as candidates involved in the regulation of the critical period. In avians, several structurally related molecules comprised the NP family, including renal NP (RNP), B-type NP (BNP) and C-type NP (CNP1, CNP3 and CNPP). To understand the functional roles of NPs in neural plastic changes, we aimed to characterize NPs and their receptors in chick brain. We found that CNP3 mRNA was expressed in several regions in the telencephalon, including the visual Wulst (VW, considered as mammalian visual cortex) and amygdala. CNP1 mRNA was expressed throughout the telencephalon. Using real-time PCR, the gene expression levels of NPs and their receptors (NPR1 and NPR2) were studied during and after the critical period of imprinting (post-hatching day [P]1 and P7). CNP3 mRNA was found to show higher expression in the VW of P1 chicks than in VW of P7 chicks. Moreover, the ability of these peptides to stimulate chicken NPR1 or NPR2 was tested in HEK293 cells expressing either of the receptor...
Source: Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Brain Res Source Type: research