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Updated: Jan 19, 2026

Double In Utero Electroporation to Target Temporally and Spatially Separated Cell Populations
Published on: June 14, 2020
Multiple promoters direct stimulus and temporal specific expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the
1Neuroscience Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
Abstract:
Neuronal activity rapidly induces expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the adult rat cortex. The rat BDNF gene has four differentially regulated promoters, each of which produce an mRNA containing a unique 5' exon (I-IV) and a common 3' exon (V) that encodes the mature BDNF protein. The present study used an exon-specific RT-PCR analysis to determine the time course of the induction from both seizures and whisker stimulation. Our data show that specific promoters are utilized at different stages of the activity-dependent induction of the BDNF gene. Furthermore, the data show a differential utilization of the four promoters following a specific stimulus.
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