1: Dev Biol. 2002 Apr 1;244(1):96-113. 

Cooperation of Hoxa5 and Pax1 genes during formation of the pectoral girdle.

Aubin J, Lemieux M, Moreau J, Lapointe J, Jeannotte L.

Centre de Recherche en Cancerologie de l'Universite Laval, Centre Hospitalier
Universitaire de Quebec, L'Hotel-Dieu de Quebec, Quebec, G1R 2J6, Canada.

Hox and Pax transcription factors are master regulators of skeletal and organ
morphogenesis. Some skeletal malformations encountered in Hoxa5 mutants are
shared by the undulated (un) mice, which bear a point mutation in the Pax1 gene.
To investigate whether Hoxa5 and Pax1 act in common pathways during skeletal
development, we analyzed Hoxa5;un compound mutants. Our genetic studies show
that Hoxa5 and Pax1 cooperate in the vertebral patterning of the cervicothoracic
transition region and in acromion morphogenesis. The dynamics of expression of
Hoxa5 and Pax1 in the pectoral girdle region suggest that both genes function in
a complementary fashion during acromion formation. Whereas Pax1 is required for
the recruitment of acromion precursor cells, Hoxa5 may provide regional cues
essential for the correct formation of the acromion by ensuring Pax1 expression
at the proper time and position during morphogenesis of the pectoral girdle.
Hoxa5 also has a distinctive role in specifying the fate of perichondrial and
chondrogenic cell lineages in a Sox9-dependent way. Copyright 2002 Elsevier
Science (USA).

PMID: 11900462 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


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