Expression of the extracellular matrix glycoprotein tenascin in the somatosensory cortex of the mouse during postnatal development: an immunocytochemical and in situ hybridization analysis
Abstract
Layer 4 of the rodent somatosensory cortex contains the barrel field which is the cortical representation of the whisker pad located on the contralateral side of the face. Each barrel within the barrel field is related one to one to its corresponding whisker both anatomically and physiologically. The astrocyte-derived extracellular matrix glycoprotein tenascin has been shown by immunocytochemistry to delineate the boundaries between barrels during their formation until the end of the second postnatal week. The present study describes the anatomical localization of tenascin mRNA expressing cells in the somatosensory cortex of the mouse from birth to postnatal day 15. During this time, a general down-regulation of tenascin-specific message was observed as a function of the state of maturation, with layers 5 and 6 down-regulating the message earlier than layers 1 and 2/3. Tenascin (as detected by immunocytochemistry) also revealed this gradual down-regulation with maturation. Layer 4 of the somatosensory cortex was different in that, with the onset of formation of barrel field boundaries at postnatal day 3, tenascin protein and mRNA were down-regulated more in layer 4 than in the upper and the lower layers of the somatosensory cor...Continue Reading
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