Expression at post-embryonic stages is insufficiently robust to detect using immunocytochemistry. Ube3a protein is ubiquitously expressed in third star larvae, and is cytoplasmically localized. In the larval ventral nerve cord and brain , Ube3a protein expression is elevated in neuroblasts that are too young to express elav protein. Ube3a protein is expressed broadly in the adult brain, with particularly high levels in the mushroom bodies.