Project description:Tamoxifen (TAM), a widely-used drug in treating breast cancer, has been reported to be associated with craniofacial defects including micrognathia and cleft palate in humans. However, the exact effects of TAM on the developing palate remain unclear. In the present study, we conclude that excess TAM exposure causes cleft palate defect in mice by regulating MAPK pathways, which implicates the importance of tightly regulated MAPK signaling in palate development and provides a basis for further exploration of the molecular etiology of cleft palate defects caused by environmental factors.
Project description:The Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) is anadromous fish distributed in Yangtze River and East China Sea. In this study, we reported cleft-palate Chinese sturgeons in artificial population for the first time. In order to explore the genetic basis of palate malformation in A. sinensis, Illumina RNA-seq technology was used to analyze the transcriptome data of normal and cleft-palate individuals in farmed Chinese sturgeons. Raw reads were obtained and assembled into 808,612 unigenes, with an average length of 509.33 bp and an N50 of 574 bp. Sequence similarity analyses against four public databases (Nr, Uniprot, KEGG and COGs) found 158,642 unigenes that can be annotated. GABAergic synapse and TGF-β signal pathway were the most two enriched pathways with high Richfactor in the analyses of different expressed genes. In these two signal pathways, six genes (GABRA4, GS, GNS, S6K, PITX2, and BMP8) were found as cleft-palate genes in Chinese sturgeon. These findings contribute to our understanding of the genetic basis of cleft palate in sturgeon, while simultaneously adding to our knowledge about craniofacial development.
Project description:Cleft palate is a common congenital anomaly with a live birth prevalence estimated to be 1:2500 live births, that results from failure of growth, elevation, adhesion and/or fusion of the palatal shelves during embryogenesis. Mutations in the gene encoding the transcription factor p63 result in cleft palate in humans and mice. To study the roles of P63 in periderm migration and medial edge epithelia in mice sub-mucous cleft palate, ÎNp63alpha was ectopically expressed in the palatal epithelia using a transgenic approach.
Project description:Palatogenesis is a complex developmental process requiring coordinated growth, elevation, and fusion of the palatal shelves. Disruption of these events results in cleft palate, one of the most common congenital craniofacial anomalies. p130Crk-associated substrate (p130Cas) is an adaptor protein involved in integrin-mediated signaling and cytoskeletal regulation; however, its roles in late embryonic development remain poorly understood because global p130Cas-deficiency leads to early embryonic lethality. In this study, we used tamoxifen-inducible conditional knockout mice to investigate the function of p130Cas during palatal development. Conditional deletion of p130Cas resulted in cleft palate characterized by impaired horizontal growth of the palatal shelves. Reduced mesenchymal cell proliferation within the palatal shelves was confirmed by Ki-67 immunostaining and EdU incorporation. Consistently, primary mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal (MEPM) cells derived from p130Cas-deficient embryos exhibited impaired proliferation and migration in vitro. In contrast, epithelial-specific deletion of p130Cas did not result in cleft palate, indicating that p130Cas function in the palatal mesenchyme is critical for normal palatal development. Together, these findings identify p130Cas as an important regulator of palatal mesenchymal expansion during secondary palatogenesis. Impaired proliferative growth of palatal mesenchyme likely underlies the developmental basis of cleft palate in this model.
Project description:In this study, we have investigated the molecular basis of Shh signalling during development of the secondary palate and how CNCC patterning and fate is influenced by the Shh signalling network. Using a gain-of-function mouse model to activate Smoothened (R26SmoM2) signalling in the palatal mesenchyme (Osr2-IresCre), we demonstrate ectopic Hh-Smo signalling results in fully penetrant cleft palate, disrupted oral-nasal patterning and defective palatine bone formation. We show that a series of Fox transcription factors, including the novel direct target Foxl1, function downstream of Hh signalling in the secondary palate. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Wnt/BMP antagonists, in particular Sostdc1, are positively regulated by Hh signalling, concomitant with down-regulation of key regulators of osteogenesis and BMP signalling effectors. Microarray analysis was performed on excised palatal shelves from Osr2-IresCre+/- (wild-type) and Osr2-IresCre;Smo+/M2 (mutant) embryos at embryonic day (E)13.5. Osr2-IresCre (PMID:17941042) and R26SmoM2 (PMID:15107405) mice have been described previously.
Project description:The overall goal of this project is to investigate the role of TGF-beta signaling in palate development in order to discover candidate therapeutics for preventing and treating congenital birth defects. Here, we conducted gene expression profiling of embryonic palatal tissue from wild type mice as well as those with a neural crest specific conditional inactivation of the Tgfbr2 gene. The latter mice provide a model of cleft palate formation. To investigate the mechanism of cleft palate resulting from mutations in TGFBR2, we analyzed neural crest specific conditional inactivation of Tgfbr2 in mice (Tgfbr2fl/fl;Wnt1-Cre). We performed microarray analyses using the palatal tissue of Tgfbr2fl/fl;Wnt1-Cre mice at embryonic day E13.5 (prior to palatal fusion, n=6 per genotype) and E14.5 (during palatal fusion, n=5 per genotype) to examine the genes regulated by Tgf-beta during palate formation.