Individual beta-tubulin isoforms in developing mouse brain were characterized using immunoblotting, after preceding high-resolution isoelectric focusing, with monoclonal antibodies against different structural regions of beta-tubulin. Some of the antibodies reacted with a limited number of tubulin isoforms in all stages of brain development and in HeLa cells. The epitope for the TU-14 antibody was located in the isotype-defining domain and was present on the beta-tubulin isotypes of classes I, II and IV, but absent on the neuron-specific class-III isotype. The data suggest that non-class-III beta-tubulins in mouse brain are substrates for developmentally regulated post-translational modifications and that beta-tubulins of non-neuronal cells are also post-translationally modified.
AbstractOxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) support a broad range of behaviors and homeostatic functions including sex-specific and context-appropriate social behaviors. Although the alterations of these systems have been linked with social-related disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, their formation and developmental dynamics remain largely unknown. Using novel brain clearing techniques and 3D imaging, we have reconstructed the specification of oxytocinergic and vasopressinergic circuits in the developing mouse brain with unprecedented cellular resolution. A systematic quantification indicates that OXT and AVP neurons in the hypothalamus display distinctive developmental dynamics and high cellular plasticity from embryonic to early postnatal stages. Our findings reveal new insights into the specification and consolidation of neuropeptidergic systems in the developing CNS.
Immunological discrimination of β-tubulin isoforms in developing mouse brain. Post-translational modification of non-class-III β-tubulins