Abstract
A male zebra finch learns a song by listening to a tutor, but song learning is normally restricted to a critical period in juvenile development. Here we identify an RNA whose expression in the song control circuit is altered during this critical period. The RNA encodes a soluble presynaptic protein that forms a predicted amphipathic alpha helix typical of the lipid-binding domain in apolipoproteins. We show this protein, which we call synelfin, to be the homolog of the human non-A beta component (and its precursor) recently purified from Alzheimer's disease amyloid. We suggest this highly conserved protein may serve a novel function critical to the regulation of vertebrate neural plasticity.
Publication types
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Comparative Study
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Alzheimer Disease / genetics
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Amyloid / biosynthesis
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Amyloid / chemistry
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Amyloid / genetics*
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Amyloid / physiology*
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Animals
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Birds / genetics
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Birds / physiology*
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Brain / embryology
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Brain / growth & development
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Brain / metabolism
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Brain / physiology*
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Canaries / genetics
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Cattle
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Consensus Sequence
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DNA, Complementary / genetics
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Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental*
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Humans
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In Situ Hybridization
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Learning / physiology*
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Male
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Nerve Tissue Proteins*
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Neural Pathways / growth & development*
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Neuronal Plasticity / genetics
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Neuronal Plasticity / physiology*
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Phylogeny
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Protein Structure, Secondary
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RNA, Messenger / genetics
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RNA, Messenger / isolation & purification*
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RNA, Messenger / physiology
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Rats
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Sequence Alignment
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Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
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Species Specificity
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Subcellular Fractions / chemistry
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Synucleins
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Torpedo / genetics
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Vocalization, Animal / physiology*
Substances
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Amyloid
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DNA, Complementary
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Nerve Tissue Proteins
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RNA, Messenger
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Synucleins
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synelfin