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: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.