Identification and localization of M-CoREST (1A13), a mouse homologue of the human transcriptional co-repressor CoREST, in the developing mouse CNS.

By means of subtractive and differential hybridization techniques we have identified a novel murine gene (1A13) the expression of which is developmentally regulated in the mouse brain. Comparison of the nucleotide and predicted protein sequence revealed closest relationship of 1A13 to human CoREST, a transcriptional co-repressor required for regulation of neural-specific gene expression. Thus, we will refer to 1A13 as M-CoREST. As shown by in situ hybridization and Northern blotting, expression of M-CoREST mRNA is abundant in neural tissue at early embryonic stages but declines significantly towards birth, coincident with the progression of CNS maturation.