Figure 1.

Detection of sarcoglycan transcripts and protein in brain. PCR products were amplified from single‐stranded DNA prepared from RNA extracted from adult rat skeletal muscle and brain (A). PCR primers for amplifying rat sarcoglycan cDNA were described previously.26 Sizes of the expected PCR product are shown in base pairs. Note that α‐sarcoglycan and γ‐sarcoglycan transcripts were not detected in brain. Sarcoglycan levels in the BIO14.6 hamster brain (B).

Membrane fractions prepared from wild‐type controls and δ‐sarcoglycan‐deficient BIO14.6 brain were analyzed by Western blotting using antibodies against the sarcoglycans (ANA‐ɛ and ANA‐ζ), β‐dystroglycan and Dp71. The absence of δ‐sarcoglycan in the BIO14.6 hamster is associated with a reduced level of β‐sarcoglycan but not ɛ‐ and ζ‐sarcoglycan. Note that the 2 proteins detected with the anti‐ɛ‐sarcoglycan antibodies correspond to the brain‐specific (upper) and ubiquitous ɛ‐sarcoglycan isoforms. The levels of Dp71 and β‐dystroglycan are similarly unaltered in the BIO14.6 hamster compared with the wild‐type control.