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Organization of the spina bifida neural tube in Splotch ( Pax ‐3 defective) mouse embryos
Author(s) -
Takahashi Yoshiko
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
development, growth and differentiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1440-169X
pISSN - 0012-1592
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-169x.1996.00004.x
Subject(s) - neural tube , neuroepithelial cell , neurulation , homeobox , biology , neural plate , hox gene , pax3 , neural fold , gdf7 , neural crest , microbiology and biotechnology , mutant , embryo , spinal cord , neural development , population , anatomy , wnt signaling pathway , organogenesis , genetics , embryogenesis , gene , neuroscience , embryonic stem cell , gene expression , transcription factor , gastrulation , medicine , environmental health
The development of the dorsal portion of the spinal cord is adversely affected in a mouse mutant, Splotch (Sp). This mutation is a splicing defect of Pax ‐3 mRNA, which encodes a transcription factor. Organization of the neural tube in Sp/Sp mice has been studied with the genes Pax ‐3, Wnt 3a, Msx 1 and Msx 2, which are expressed specifically in the dorsal portion of the neural tube. Regionalization of the Sp neural tube is properly preserved along the dorso‐ventral and medio‐lateral axes. This suggests that the severe phenotype of the central nervous system (CNS) in Sp embryos is not caused by gross loss of a particular cell population. The level of expression of the Msx 2 gene (a homeobox gene, previously called Hox 8), whose expression pattern is similar to that of Pax ‐3 in the developing neural tube, is reduced in neuroepithelial cells of Sp mutants in the CNS. This suggests that Msx 2 is located downstream to Pax ‐3 in a regulatory pathway that is required during the development of the dorsal portion of the neural tube.