Expression of the JNK2-alpha1 gene in the developing chick brain.

We have isolated chicken JNK2-alpha1 encoding a c-Jun N-terminal kinase, and examined the expression during embryogenesis. The kinase domain sequence is well conserved between chicken and mammals, but carboxy-terminal sequence of JNK is divergent from subtype 1 and 2, possibly derived from alternative splicing. The JNK2-alpha1 gene is preferentially expressed in the neuroepithelium of developing brain at stages 16-26, and transcripts are not detectable in the other region including spinal cord. These results suggest that JNK2-alpha1 is involved in development of the central nervous system as a mediator of stress-activated protein kinase pathway conferring competence to the external stimuli such as growth factors.