Both antibodies, which recognize LAD-2L but not LAD-2S, revealed LAD-2 localization at the plasma membrane of 14 neurons and their associated axons. These 14 neurons include the SAA, SMD, SDQ, PLN, and ALN neurons, which is in agreement with the LAD-2 expression pattern inferred from a transcriptional GFP reporter (See Expr8353).
lad-2 expression, which can be detected when these neurons are born, persists throughout and after axon extension. Indeed, embryonically born ALN and SMD neurons as well as SDQL, SDQR, and PLN neurons, which are born in the L1 larval stage, show
lad-2 expression when they are born. This expression continues during axon migration, which is completed postembryonically, and persists in these neurons and their axons throughout adulthood.