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Expression of Eph Receptors and their Ligands in Palate
Author(s) -
Serrano Maria J,
Miguel Symone San,
Sachar Ashneet,
Svoboda Kathy,
Benson M Douglas
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.922.7
Subject(s) - ephrin , erythropoietin producing hepatocellular (eph) receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , mesenchyme , biology , receptor tyrosine kinase , receptor , signal transduction , embryonic stem cell , anatomy , mesenchymal stem cell , genetics , gene
Cleft palate is one of the most common birth defects. Understanding of the molecular events in palate development is a prerequisite to more effective treatment of this condition. The hard palate of humans and mice forms from shelves of mesenchyme covered with a layer of epithelial cells. These shelves adhere at the midline to form the midline epithelial seam (MES). It has been well understood that epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and apoptosis in the MES require Transforming Growth Factor β3 (TGFβ3). Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and their ephrin ligands are responsible for many contact‐mediated developmental processes. Binding of ephrins causes receptor activation in Eph‐bearing cells (forward signaling), and intracellular signaling inside ephrin‐bearing cells (reverse signaling). We discovered that ephrin‐B reverse signaling is required for palate fusion and is sufficient to do so in the absence of TGFβ3 in chicken palates. This leads us to propose that ephrin reverse signaling directs palatal EMT and fusion. To find out, we dissected palatal shelves from chicken and mice at different embryonic stages of fusion. We isolated RNA from these tissues and performed reverse transcription‐PCR for a panel of Ephs and ephrins. We found that all but a few of those genes were present in both chicken and mouse palatal tissues. Our future work will spatially locate the mRNA to specific cell layers. Grant Funding Source : March of Dimes 6‐FY06‐321