Abstract
The alternative splicing of a previously undiscovered 30 base exon confers a new level of polypeptide diversity on the N-CAM family of cell-surface glycoproteins. It results in the insertion of 10 amino acids into the fourth of five extracellular immunoglobulin-like folds. Each major size class of rat brain N-CAM mRNAs consists of members that contain or lack the exon. Furthermore, this splicing event is developmentally controlled: RNAs containing the inserted exon are expressed at extremely low levels (<3%) in embryonic brain but increase postnatally to 40%-45% of all N-CAM mRNAs in adult brain. Antibodies that recognize the alternative 10 amino acid segment react with a subset of N-CAM-expressing neurons in cultures of embryonic rat cells.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1007-1017 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Neuron |
Volume | 1 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1988 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Neuroscience