TGF-β receptor type II and fetuin in the developing sheep neocortex

Abstract

Fetuin shows a characteristic pattern of distribution in the developing neocortex in many mammalian species. Its expression is confined to early-appearing cortical-plate and later subplate neurons. A short 19 aminoacid sequence of fetuin shows a degree of homology to an 18 amino-acid sequence of the TGF-β type II receptor (TβR-II) and in vitro fetuin binds to members of the TGF-β family of cytokines. It has been suggested that fetuin is the biologically significant antagonist of these cytokines. We have compared, using immunocytochemistry, the distribution pattern of TβR-II and fetuin in the developing neocortex of foetal sheep. TβR-II immunoreactivity first appears at around 40 days of gest..