Expression pattern of the maternally imprinted gene Gtl2 in the forebrain during embryonic development and adulthood

Recent work has uncovered a large number of imprinted genes, many of which are thought to play a role in neurodevelopment and behavior. In order to begin to understand the role of specific genes in these processes, their expression patterns will be key. In this study we used in situ hybridization to study the developmental expression of Gtl2 in the forebrain from E12.5 to adulthood, since preliminary data from a microarray study indicated differential expression between the ventral and dorsal telencephalon of the mouse at a critical time point in the generation and migration of cortical neuronal populations. Strong expression was observed in the diencephalon, ventral telencephalon, post mitotic cell layers of the neocortex and pyramidal cell layer of the hippocampus. Additionally, heavily labeled subpopulations of laminar restricted cells were seen in the latter two areas.