Pax1a-EphrinB2a pathway in the first pharyngeal pouch controls hyomandibular plate formation by promoting chondrocyte formation in zebrafish.

ABSTRACT: The hyomandibular (HM) cartilage securing the lower jaw to the neurocranium in fish is a craniofacial skeletal element whose shape and function have changed dramatically in vertebrate evolution, yet the genetic mechanisms shaping this cartilage are less understood. Using mutants and rescue experiments in zebrafish, we reveal a previously unappreciated role of Pax1a in the anterior HM plate formation through EphrinB2a. During craniofacial development, pax1a is expressed in the pharyngeal endoderm from the pharyngeal segmentation stage to chondrocyte formation. Loss of pax1a leads to defects in the first pouch and to the absence of chondrocytes in the anterior region of the HM plate caused by increased cell death in differentiating osteochondral progenitors. In pax1 muta

SUBMITTER: Jeon H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11919851 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature