Odd-skipped related-1 controls neural crest chondrogenesis during tongue development.

ABSTRACT: The tongue is a critical element of the feeding system in tetrapod animals for their successful adaptation to terrestrial life. Whereas the oral part of the mammalian tongue contains soft tissues only, the avian tongue has an internal skeleton extending to the anterior tip. The mechanisms underlying the evolutionary divergence in tongue skeleton formation are completely unknown. We show here that the odd-skipped related-1 (Osr1) transcription factor is expressed throughout the neural crest-derived tongue mesenchyme in mouse, but not in chick, embryos during early tongue morphogenesis. Neural crest-specific inactivation of Osr1 resulted in formation of an ectopic cartilage in the mouse tongue, reminiscent in shape and developmental ontogeny of the anterior tongue cartilage in chick. SRY-box

SUBMITTER: Liu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3831959 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature