New genes involved in cortical development

In an attempt to elucidate the molecular basis of cortical development, we used a subtractive hybridization approach. A marginal zone-upper cortical plate target cDNA library was subtracted against a driver library obtained from the remaining lower layers. A 20-fold enrichment in target cDNAs was obtained in the subtracted population. Of the clones obtained, further studies are in progress on 3F3, a novel protein involved in RNA maturation, Podocalyxin, a sialoprotein characterized in renal glomerular epithelium, Alex3, a hinge protein related to b-catenin and Tetraspanin 5, a membrane coreceptor involved in signaling through integrins.