Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has important functions in the development of the nervous system and in brain plasticity-related processes such as memory, learning, and drug addiction. Despite the fact that the function and regulation of rodent BDNF gene expression have received close attention during the last decade, knowledge of the structural organization of mouse and rat BDNF gene has remained incomplete. We have identified and characterized several mouse and rat BDNF transcripts containing novel 5 0 untranslated exons and introduced a new numbering system for mouse and rat BDNF exons. According to our results both mouse and rat BDNF gene consist of eight 5 0 untranslated exons and one protein coding 3 0 exon. Transcription of the gene results in BDNF transcripts containing one of the eight 5 0 exons spliced to the protein coding exon and in a transcript containing only 5 0 extended protein coding exon. We also report the distinct tissue-specific expression profiles of each of the mouse and rat 5 0 exon-specific transcripts in different brain regions and nonneural tissues. In addition, we show that kainic acid-induced seizures that lead to changes in cellular Ca 2+ levels as well as inhibition of DNA methylation and histone deacetylation contribute to the differential regulation of the expression of BDNF transcripts. Finally, we confirm that mouse and rat BDNF gene loci do not encode antisense mRNA transcripts, suggesting that mechanisms of regulation for rodent and human BDNF genes differ substantially. V V C 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The genetic hierarchy that controls myelination of peripheral nerves by Schwann cells includes the POU domain Oct-6/Scip/Tst-1 and the zinc-finger Krox-20/Egr2 transcription factors. These pivotal transcription factors act to control the onset of myelination during development and tissue regeneration in adults following damage. In this report we demonstrate the involvement of a third transcription factor, the POU domain factor Brn-2. We show that Schwann cells express Brn-2 in a developmental profile similar to that of Oct-6 and that Brn-2 gene activation does not depend on Oct-6. Overexpression of Brn-2 in Oct-6-deficient Schwann cells, under control of the Oct-6 Schwann cell enhancer (SCE), results in partial rescue of the developmental delay phenotype, whereas compound disruption of both Brn-2 and Oct-6 results in a much more severe phenotype. Together these data strongly indicate that Brn-2 function largely overlaps with that of Oct-6 in driving the transition from promyelinating to myelinating Schwann cells. The high conduction velocity of nerve fibers is a hallmark of the nervous system of higher vertebrates and depends on structural and molecular specializations that are elaborated during development. These specializations occur through intimate and continued interactions between the neuron and its associated glial cells and result in the elaboration by glial cells of myelin, the important membranous structure that ensheaths and insulates axons (Arroyo and Scherer 2000; Fields and StevensGraham 2002;Mirsky et al. 2002). Two glial cell types produce myelin: the oligodendrocyte in the central nervous system (CNS) and the Schwann cell in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Although very similarly organized, the molecular composition of CNS and PNS myelin differs significantly, and oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells have adopted different, but overlapping, sets of transcriptional regulators to coordinate myelogenesis (Hudson 2001; Topilko and Meijer 2001). These differences reflect their distinct embryonic origins. Whereas oligodendrocytes originate from the neuroepithelial precursors that line the lumen of the spinal cord and ventricles of the brain, Schwann cells derive mainly from the neural crest, a transient embryonic stem (ES) cell population that generates a wide variety of cell types including sensory and autonomic neurons and melanocytes (Le Douarin and Kalcheim 1999;Richardson 2001). Schwann cell precursors populate the early outgrowing nerve bundles, where they proliferate and segregate individual and groups of fibers until the number of Schwann cells and fibers is eventually matched. During the first few days of postnatal development, many Schwann cells establish a 1:1 relationship with axons, cease to proliferate, and initiate myelin formation such that by the end of the first postnatal week of development, all myelin-competent axons are actively being myelinated. Schwann cells that remain associated with groups of lower-caliber fibers will segregate these fibers in cytoplasmic cuffs without mye...

Papillomavirus genomes are maintained as multicopy nuclear plasmids in transformed cells. To address the mechanisms by which the viral DNA is stably propagated in the transformed cells, we have constructed a cell line CH04.15 expressing constitutively the viral proteins E1 and E2, that are required for initiation of viral DNA replication. We show that these viral proteins are necessary and sufficient for stable extrachromosomal replication. Using the cell line CH04.15, we have shown that the bovine papillomavirus‐1 (BPV‐1) minimal origin of replication (MO) is absolutely necessary, but is not sufficient for stable extrachromosomal replication of viral plasmids. By deletion and insertion analysis, we identified an additional element (minichromosome maintenance element, MME) in the upstream regulatory region of BPV‐1 which assures stable replication of the MO‐containing plasmids. This element is composed of multiple binding sites for the transcription activator E2. MME appears to function in the absence of replication but requires E1 and E2 proteins for activity. In contrast to, for example, Epstein‐Barr virus oriP, stably maintained BPV‐1 plasmids are not subject to once‐per‐cell cycle replication as determined by density labelling experiments. These results indicate that papillomavirus episomal replicators replicate independently of the chromosomal DNA of their hosts.

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While an important role for the POU domain transcription factor Oct‐6 in the developing peripheral nerve has been well established, studies into its exact role in nerve development and regeneration have been hampered by the high mortality rate of newborn Oct‐6 mutant animals. In this study we have generated a Schwann cell‐specific Oct‐6 allele through deletion of the Schwann cell‐specific enhancer element (SCE) in the Oct‐6 locus. Analysis of mice homozygous for this allele (ΔSCE allele) reveals that rate‐limiting levels of Oct‐6 in Schwann cells are dependent on the SCE and that this element does not contribute to Oct‐6 regulation in other cell types. We demonstrate a Schwann cell autonomous function for Oct‐6 during nerve development as well as in regenerating nerve. Additionally, we show that Krox‐20, an important regulatory target of Oct‐6 in Schwann cells, is activated, with delayed kinetics, through an Oct‐6‐independent mechanism in these mice.