NCBI Summary:
Thymus development depends on a complex series of interactions between thymocytes and the stromal component of the organ. Epithelial V-like antigen (EVA) is expressed in thymus epithelium and strongly downregulated by thymocyte developmental progression. This gene is expressed in the thymus and in several epithelial structures early in embryogenesis. It is highly homologous to the myelin protein zero and, in thymus-derived epithelial cell lines, is poorly soluble in nonionic detergents, strongly suggesting an association to the cytoskeleton. Its capacity to mediate cell adhesion through a homophilic interaction and its selective regulation by T cell maturation might imply the participation of EVA in the earliest phases of thymus organogenesis. The protein bears a characteristic V-type domain and two potential N-glycosylation sites in the extracellular domain; a putative serine phosphorylation site for casein kinase 2 is also present in the cytoplasmic tail. Two transcript variants encoding the same protein have been found for this gene.
General function
Cell adhesion molecule
Comment
Cellular localization
Cytoskeleton
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Ovarian function
Comment
Expression regulated by
LH
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Ovarian localization
Granulosa
Comment
Changes in mouse granulosa cell gene expression during early luteinization. McRae RS et al. Changes in gene expression during granulosa cell luteinization have been measured using serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE). Immature normal mice were treated with pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) or PMSG followed, 48 h later, by human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Granulosa cells were collected from preovulatory follicles after PMSG injection or PMSG/hCG injection and SAGE libraries generated from the isolated mRNA. The combined libraries contained 105,224 tags representing 40,248 unique transcripts. Overall, 715 transcripts showed a significant difference in abundance between the two libraries of which 216 were significantly down-regulated by hCG and 499 were significantly up-regulated. Among transcripts differentially regulated, there were clear and expected changes in genes involved in steroidogenesis as well as clusters of genes involved in modeling of the extracellular matrix, regulation of the cytoskeleton and intra and intercellular signaling. The SAGE libraries described here provide a base for functional investigation of the regulation of granulosa cell luteinization.