Differential Pax6 promoter activity and transcript expression during forebrain development.

Three different Pax6 promoters -- P0, P1, and P alpha -- show differential activity in the developing eye and spinal cord. To examine promoter usage during forebrain development, we performed in situ hybridization and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction to detect transcripts initiated from each promoter. Promoter-specific transcripts are expressed within subdomains of total Pax6 expression, but differ from one another in their spatial localization and expression over time. Additionally, we identified a novel P0-initiated transcript and detected a developmentally regulated antisense transcript. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.