Patterns of developmental mRNA expression of neurturin and GFR alpha 2 in the rat striatum and substantia nigra do not suggest a role in the regulation of natural cell death in dopamine neurons

We examined the mRNA expression of neurturin (NTN) and its receptor GFR alpha 2 in rat substantia nigra (SN) and striatum by northern analysis at ages ranging from postnatal day (PND) 2 to adult. NTN mRNA expression is developmentally regulated in striatum with a peak at PND10, but its expression in striatum is low, and less than that of SN. In SN, there is no developmental regulation. GFR alpha 2 was expressed most highly during the first two postnatal weeks. Like NTN, GFR alpha 2 mRNA was also more abundant in SN, at both PND2 and 14. Our results show that NTN expression is relatively low in the striatum, the target of dopamine (DA) neurons, and there is no apparent pattern of developmental regulation in SN. Thus these studies are not strongly supportive of a role for NTN in regulating natural cell death (NCD) in DA neurons, either as a target-derived or as a local paracrine factor.