The International Journal of Developmental Biology

Int. J. Dev. Biol. 58: 713 - 717 (2014)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.140094jd

Vol 58, Issue 9

Regional divergence of palate medial edge epithelium along the anterior to posterior axis

Open Access | Developmental Expression Pattern | Published: 9 February 2015

Jiu-Zhen Jin, Dennis R. Warner and Jixiang Ding*

Department of Molecular, Cellular & Craniofacial Biology, School of Dentistry and Birth Defects Center, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that mouse palatal mesenchymal cells undergo regional specification along the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis defined by anterior Shox2 and Msx1 expression and posterior Meox2 expression. A-P regional specification of the medial edge epithelium, which is directly responsible for palate fusion, has long been proposed, but it has not yet been demonstrated due to the lack of regional specific markers. In this study, we have demonstrated that the palate medial edge epithelium is regionalized along the A-P axis, similar to that for the underlying mesenchyme. Mmp13, a medial edge epithelium specific marker, was uniformly expressed from anterior to posterior in wild-type mouse palatal shelves. Previous studies demonstrated that medial edge epithelium expression of Mmp13 was regulated by TGF-beta3. We have found that the changes in Mmp13 expression in TGF-beta3 knockouts varied along the A-P axis, and can be broken down into three distinct regions. These regions correlated with regional specification of the underlying medial edge mesenchymal cells and timing of palate fusion. Mouse palate medial edge epithelium along the A-P axis can be divided into different regions according to the differential response to the loss of TGF-beta3.

Keywords

Mmp13, TGF-beta3, mouse secondary palate, regional specification

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