Developmental regulation and neuronal expression of the cellular disintegrin ADAM11 gene in mouse nervous system

Abstract

ADAM11 is the prototype member of the predominantly CNS-associated clade of the ADAM metalloprotease-disintegrins that has been implicated in neural adhesion and axon guidance. The present study describes the spatiotemporal expression pattern of the ADAM11 gene in adult and developing mouse, and identifies the cells expressing the gene. In the adult CNS, ADAM11 mRNA was present throughout the forebrain, including different cortical fields and diencephalic nuclei. In brainstem, low to moderate expression was detected in certain midbrain nuclei, while several pontine and medullary nuclei showed a very strong signal. High expression was observed in the cerebellar cortex and spinal cord. In addition, ADAM11 was expressed in ganglia of the peripheral nervous system (PNS), retinae, testes, liver, and at lower levels in epidermal and mucosal epithelia, kidney, and salivary gland. The expression was localized to neurons in all examined CNS and PNS subfields. During pre- and perinatal development, ADAM11 was differentially expressed both in the developing PNS and CNS, as well as in heart, kidney, eyes, and brown fat. The present results suggest a widespread involvement of ADAM11 in neuron–neuron or neuron–glial cell interactions during development as well as in the adult nervous system. They provide novel complementary information to recently accumulated data on CNS integrin gene expression and offer useful clues for further studies of the neural functions of ADAMs and integrins.