Fetuin in neurons of the retina and cerebellum during fetal and postnatal development of the rat

Abstract

Although long known to be a liver-derived fetal plasma glycoprotein, fetuin has more recently been shown to be present in sub-populations of neurons in the developing nervous system of a number of mammalian species. We have extended these observations to examine the fetuin immunoreactivity (IR) in developing rat retina and cerebellum. Fetuin-IR was first seen in the retina on embryonic day (E)19 in a sub-population of cells in the retinal ganglion celt layer and a small proportion of cells in the neuroblastic layer. The proportion of cells in the ganglion layer exhibiting fetuin-IR increased until postnatal day (P) 10 when all cells in this layer were strongly immunoreactive. From P14 onward..