Ng SC, de la Monte SM, Conboy GL, Karns LR, Fishman MC. Cloning of human GAP-43: growth association and ischemic resurgence. Neuron. 1988 Apr; 1(2):133-9.

Citation

Ng SC, de la Monte SM, Conboy GL, Karns LR, Fishman MC. 1988. Cloning of human GAP-43: growth association and ischemic resurgence. Neuron. 1(2):133-9. Pubmed: 3272163

Abstract

GAP-43 is a growth cone protein expressed in neurons especially during periods of axonal elongation. Poor repair in the adult mammalian CNS has been ascribed to restraints upon its expression. We have cloned human GAP-43 cDNA to investigate its potential involvement in neurological illness. Analysis of postmortem human brain tissue disclosed uniformly high expression of GAP-43 throughout the neonatal brain, whereas in the adult brain high levels of GAP-43 persist only in discrete regions. However, in the wake of ischemic injury in the adult brain, regions normally low in GAP-43 reexpress it at high levels, suggesting a role for GAP-43 in remodeling and repair of mature CNS neurons.

Related Faculty

Mark C. Fishman, M.D.

Fishman Lab

Mark C. Fishman’s group studies the heart-brain connection. They employ a range of genetic, developmental, and neurobiological tools in zebrafish to understand what the heart tells the brain, and how critical internal sensory systems adjust homeostatic and somatic behaviors, including social interactions.