Expression of the dystrophin-related protein 2 (Drp2) transcript in the mouse

We have recently characterised a new member of the dystrophin gene family, DRP2, and its murine counterpart, Drp2, which encode dystrophin-related protein 2 (DRP2). DRP2 is predicted to resemble certain short C-terminal isoforms of dystrophin and dystrophin-related protein 1 (DRP1 or utrophin). We describe here a comprehensive survey of Drp2 expression in the mouse by RT-PCR, and compare the expression profile of Drp2 with that of the related genes Dmd, Drp1 and Dag1 that encode all the known isoforms of dystrophin, DRP1/utrophin and a component of the dystrophin-associated protein complex, dystroglycan, respectively. Drp2 was shown to be expressed throughout the central nervous system (CNS) and in several peripheral tissues including the eye, kidney, teeth, oesophagus, colon, epididymis and ovary. The expression of Drp2 in the CNS was then further defined by in situ hybridization. Overall, the pattern of Drp2 expression corresponds to a subset of the brain regions known to express Dag1, and shows substantial overlap with regions that express various isoforms of dystrophin (particularly in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum). These data define the distribution of Drp2 expression in the mouse, and raise the possibility that in the CNS it may be an important component in neuronal dystrophin-associated complexes.