Regulation of α- and β-tubulin mRNAs in rat brain during synaptogenesis
Abstract Developmental alterations in α- and β-tubulin mRNA in polysomes from brains of −3 days (fetal) to 30-day-old rats were quantitated by using well-characterized chicken α- and β-tubulin cDNA probes, pT 1 and pT 2 having 80–90% homology with rat sequences. Northern blot analysis revealed a single major (> 95%) 1.8 kb mRNA for both α- and β-tubulin. Quantitation by slot hybridization indicates a virtually coordinate expression of α- and β-tubulin mRNA with a maximal level around day 5 after birth, which represents the mid-phase of synaptogenesis.