Multiple Cranial Organ Defects after Conditionally Knocking Out Fgf10 in the Neural Crest

• Published in: Frontiers in physiology 2016-10, Vol.7, p.488-488
• Main Authors: Teshima, Tathyane H N, Lourenco, Silvia V, Tucker, Abigail S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: cranial glands; CVP; Fgf10; ocular glands; Palate; Physiology; thyroid
• ISSN: 1664-042X; 1664-042X
• DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2016.00488

is necessary for the development of a number of organs that fail to develop or are reduced in size in the null mutant. Here we have knocked out specifically in the neural crest driven by . The mouse phenocopies many of the null mutant defects, including cleft palate, loss of salivary glands, and ocular glands, highlighting the neural crest origin of the expressing mesenchyme surrounding these organs. In contrast tissues such as the limbs and lungs, where is expressed by the surrounding mesoderm, were unaffected, as was the pituitary gland where is expressed by the neuroepithelium. The circumvallate papilla of the tongue formed but was hypoplastic in the conditional and null embryos, suggesting that other sources of FGF can compensate in development of this structure. The tracheal cartilage rings showed normal patterning in the conditional knockout, indicating that the source of for this tissue is mesodermal, which was confirmed using to lineage trace the boundary of the neural crest in this region. The thyroid, thymus, and parathyroid glands surrounding the trachea were present but hypoplastic in the conditional mutant, indicating that a neighboring source of mesodermal might be able to partially compensate for loss of neural crest derived .