Figure 2.

Expression of synemin mRNA in cardiac myocytes. A, B) TaqMan assays that detect α-synemin or α+β-synemin cDNAs were used to determine relative ratios of synemin mRNA expression vs. GAPDH in rat hearts as a function of developmental time. Hearts were isolated at E16, E19, P1, P3, P7, P21, and 6 mo. DNA (20 μg) from each was assayed in triplicate to detect desmin, vimentin, α-actinin, vinculin and GAPDH (A), or 50 μg DNA was used to detect α-synemin or α+β-synemin (B). Highest values for α-synemin and α+β-synemin cDNAs were detected at P7. C) After normalization to GAPDH, expression of desmin cDNA was highest in adult rat hearts (6 mo), as opposed to vimentin, which was highest at E16 and decreased into adulthood. Two other binding partners of synemin, α-actinin and vinculin, were also assayed; those mRNAs remained similar across the selected time points.