Ablation of the Sox11 gene results in clefting of the secondary palate resembling the pierre robin sequence

Huarong Huang, Xiaojuan Yang, Meiling Bao, Huanhuan Cao, Xiaoping Miao, Xiaoyun Zhang, Lin Gan, Mengsheng Qiu, Zunyi Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mouse gene inactivation has shown that the transcription factor Sox11 is required for mouse palatogenesis. However, whether Sox11 is primarily involved in the regulation of palatogenesis still remains elusive. In this study, we explored the role of Sox11 in palatogenesis by analyzing the developmental mechanism in cleft palate formation in mutants deficient in Sox11. Sox11 is expressed both in the developing palatal shelf and in the surrounding structures, including the mandible. We found that cleft palate occurs only in the mutant in which Sox11 is directly deleted. As in the wild type, the palatal shelves in the Sox11 mutant undergo outgrowth in a downward direction and exhibit potential for fusion and elevation. However, mutant palatal shelves encounter clefting, which is associated with a malpositioned tongue that results in physical obstruction of palatal shelf elevation at embryonic day 14.5 (E14.5). We found that loss of Sox11 led to reduced cell proliferation in the developing mandibular mesenchyme via Cyclin D1, leading to mandibular hypoplasia, which blocks tongue descent. Extensive analyses of gene expression in Sox11 deficiency identified FGF9 as a potential candidate target of Sox11 in the modulation of cell proliferation both in the mandible and the palatal shelf between E12.5 and E13.5. Finally we show, using in vitro assays, that Sox11 directly regulates the expression of Fgf9 and that application of FGF9 protein to Sox11-deficient palatal shelves restores the rate of BrdU incorporation. Taken together, the palate defects presented in the Sox11 loss mutant mimic the clefting in the Pierre Robin sequence in humans.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)7107-7118
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
Volume291
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 25 2016
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Ablation of the Sox11 gene results in clefting of the secondary palate resembling the pierre robin sequence'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this