Premium
Twist is required for patterning the cranial nerves and maintaining the viability of mesodermal cells
Author(s) -
Ota Masato S.,
Loebel David A.F.,
O'Rourke Meredith P.,
Wong Nicole,
Tsoi Bonny,
Tam Patrick P.L.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.20047
Subject(s) - biology , neural crest , paraxial mesoderm , mesoderm , microbiology and biotechnology , cranial neural crest , anatomy , mesenchyme , cellular differentiation , embryo , genetics , embryonic stem cell , gene
Twist encodes a basic helix‐loop‐helix transcription factor that is required for normal craniofacial morphogenesis in the mouse. Loss of Twist activity in the cranial mesenchyme leads to aberrant migratory behaviour of the neural crest cells, whereas Twist ‐deficient neural crest cells are located in an inappropriate location in the first branchial arch and display defective osteogenic and odontogenic differentiation (Soo et al. [2002] Dev. Biol. 247:251–270). Results of the present study further show that loss of Twist impacts on the patterning of the cranial ganglia and nerves but not that of the peripheral ganglia and nerves in the trunk region of the body axis. Analyses of the expression of molecular markers of early differentiation of the paraxial mesoderm and the histogenetic potency of somites of Twist ‐/‐ embryos reveal that Twist ‐deficient somites can differentiate into muscles, cartilage, and bones, albeit less prolifically. Twist function, therefore, is not essential for mesoderm differentiation. The poor growth of the Twist ‐deficient somites after transplantation to the ectopic site may be attributed to reduced proliferative capacity and extensive apoptosis of the paraxial mesoderm, suggesting that Twist is required for maintaining cell proliferation and viability in the mesodermal progenitors. Developmental Dynamics 230:216–228, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.