Bovine floor plate cells express the SCO-spondin gene

A good body of evidence points to a chemical relationship between compounds secreted by both, the floor plate (FP) and the subcommissural organ (SCO; a ventricular brain gland whose function has not been fully established). Since SCO-spondin is the major SCO secretory glycoprotein, we investigated whether this protein is also expressed in the FP. For this purpose, RNA from bovine FP was analyzed using PCR primers which revealed the expected SCO-spondin-product. The sequence identity of this PCR-fragment to the corresponding SCO-spondin region was established by southern blot and sequencing. FP-translation of SCO-spondin was demonstrated by western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry. These results support previous evidence ascribing CNS developmental properties to SCO-spondin.