PMID:10536059

Citation	Hao, Z, Yeung, J, Wolf, L, Doucette, R and Nazarali, A (1999) Differential expression of Hoxa-2 protein along the dorsal-ventral axis of the developing and adult mouse spinal cord. Dev. Dyn. 216:201-17
Abstract	We have used synthetic oligopeptides derived from the coding sequence of the murine Hoxa-2 protein to produce polyclonal antibodies that specifically recognize the Hoxa-2 recombinant protein. Immunohistochemical studies reveal a distinct pattern of spatial and temporal expression of Hoxa-2 protein within the mouse spinal cord which is concomitant with the cytoarchitectural changes occurring in the developing cord. Hoxa-2 protein is predominantly detected in the nuclei of cells in the ventral mantle region of 10-day-old mouse embryos. Islet-1, a marker for motor neurons was also shown to be co-localized with Hoxa-2 in nuclei of cells in this region. As development progresses from 10-days to 14-days of gestation, Hoxa-2 protein expression gradually extends to the dorsal regions of the mantle layer. The Hoxa-2 protein expression pattern changes at 16-days of embryonic development with strong expression visible throughout the dorsal mantle layer. In 18-day-old and adult mouse spinal cords, Hoxa-2 protein was expressed predominantly by cells of the dorsal horn and only by a few cells of the ventral horn. Double labeling studies with an antibody against glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP, an astrocyte-specific intermediate filament protein) showed that within the adult spinal cord, astrocytes rarely expressed the Hoxa-2 protein. However, Hoxa-2 and GFAP double-labeled astrocytes were found in the neopallial cultures, although not all astrocytes expressed Hoxa-2. Hoxa-2 expressing oligodendrocyte progenitor cells were also identified after double-labeling with O4 and Hoxa-2 antibodies; although cells in this lineage that have begun to develop a more extensive array of cytoplasmic processes were less likely to be Hoxa-2 positive. The early pattern of Hoxa-2 protein expression across transverse sections of the neural tube is temporally and spatially modified as each major class of neuron is generated. This congruence in the expression of the Hoxa-2 protein and the generation of neurons in the cord suggests that the Hoxa-2 protein may contribute to dorsal-ventral patterning and/or to the specification of neuronal phenotype. Dev Dyn 1999;216:201-217.
Links	PubMed Online version:<201::AID-DVDY10>3.0.CO;2-6 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0177(199910)216:2<201::AID-DVDY10>3.0.CO;2-6
Keywords	Age Factors; Animals; Antibodies, Monoclonal/metabolism; Astrocytes/metabolism; Blotting, Western; Cell Nucleus/chemistry; Cells, Cultured; Cytoplasm/chemistry; Genes, Homeobox/genetics; Homeodomain Proteins/analysis; Homeodomain Proteins/genetics; Immunohistochemistry; Mice; Neurons/metabolism; Oligodendroglia/metabolism; Spinal Cord/embryology; Spinal Cord/metabolism; Thoracic Vertebrae/embryology
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