Caveolin-3, a protein that is correlated with caveolae, is found in muscle cells, especially during their differentiation. Although the distribution of caveolin-3 has been studied in cases such as adult and late embryonic mammalians, the expression of caveolin-3 has not been clearly defined during chicken development. In this study, we detected intense caveolin-3 immunoreactivity (IR) as early as embryonic day 4 (E4), most of the signals were localized within the neural tube and myotome. While IRs in the brain occurred in radial glia at E6, these intensities were reduced to an almost undetectable level at E8. In the case of muscle cells, the exclusive localization of caveolin-3 in the cytoplasmic membrane was detected even at E11, much earlier than in mammalian muscle tissues. Although the caveolin-3 IR pattern was similar to that reported by previous studies, we found some interesting mismatches in the case of avian tissues. Although we are unable to explain caveolin-3 expression patterns in the early embryonic stages, this study could provide a basis for further study on the function of caveolin-3 in avian embryogenesis.
Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science B.V.