Multiple functions of Snail family genes during palate development in mice

Autor: Thomas Gridley, Kathleen F. Oram, Stephen A. Murray
Rok vydání: 2007
Předmět:
Zdroj: Development. 134:1789-1797
ISSN: 1477-9129
0950-1991
DOI: 10.1242/dev.02837
Popis: Palate development requires precise regulation of gene expression changes, morphogenetic movements and alterations in cell physiology. Defects in any of these processes can result in cleft palate, a common human birth defect. The Snail gene family encodes transcriptional repressors that play essential roles in the growth and patterning of vertebrate embryos. Here we report the functions of Snail ( Snai1 ) and Slug ( Snai2 ) genes during palate development in mice. Snai2 -/- mice exhibit cleft palate, which is completely penetrant on a Snai1 heterozygous genetic background. Cleft palate in Snai1 +/- Snai2 -/- embryos is due to a failure of the elevated palatal shelves to fuse. Furthermore, while tissue-specific deletion of the Snai1 gene in neural crest cells does not cause any obvious defects, neural-crest-specific Snai1 deletion on a Snai2 -/- genetic background results in multiple craniofacial defects, including a cleft palate phenotype distinct from that observed in Snai1 +/- Snai2 -/- embryos. In embryos with neural-crest-specific Snai1 deletion on a Snai2 -/- background, palatal clefting results from a failure of Meckel9s cartilage to extend the mandible and thereby allow the palatal shelves to elevate, defects similar to those seen in the Pierre Robin Sequence in humans.
Databáze: OpenAIRE