Characterization of the two genes differentially expressed during development in human fetal astrocytes

Astrocytes are ubiquitous in the brain and have multiple functions. It is becoming clear that they play an important role in monitoring the neuromicroenvironment, information processing, and signaling in the central nervous system (CNS) in normal conditions and that they respond to CNS injuries. During the development of the CNS, astrocytes play a key role as a substrate for neuronal migration and axonal growth. To identify genes that could participate in astrocyte maturation, we used the differential display reverse transcription-PCR (DDRT-PCR) method. Human fetal astrocytes were cultured and total RNAs were isolated at intervals of 5 days for 50 days. Using 24 primer combinations, we identified a set of 18 candidate cDNAs deriving from the excised DDRT-PCR bands. DNA sequencing revealed 16 genes that have been described already. We found that RTP, TG, hTM-alpha, SPARC, TRIP7, and RPL7 genes were expressed increasingly, while HMGCR, RPL27a, NACA, NPM, and TARBP2 genes were expressed decreasingly, according to their culture stages. We also found two unidentified genes, A3 and C8, which were expressed differently in culture stages; the former was expressed decreasingly and the latter increasingly. These two genes were found in the same amount in genomic DNA from various human cells such as astrocytes, astrocytoma, trophoblasts and lymphocytes. The A3 gene was found only in human genomic DNA, but not in rat (ATr5), mouse (RAW264.7), or monkey (Vero) cells, whereas the C8 gene was found in human genomic DNA and monkey cells, but not in rat or mouse cells. We analysed these two genes for identification. There was >92% nucleotide sequence identity between the A3 gene (3,626 bp) and the Homo sapiens general transcription factor 3 (GTF3), and >96% nucleotide sequence identity between the C8 gene (2,401 bp) and the transmembrane receptor Unc5h2. These findings suggest that these two genes may participate in some functional roles within the cells.