Abstract

Developmental control of jaw size is crucial to prevent disease and facilitate evolution. We have shown that species-specific differences in jaw size are established by neural crest mesenchyme (NCM), which are the jaw progenitors that migrate into the mandibular primordia. NCM relies on multiple signaling molecules including Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) to mediate interactions with mandibular epithelium that facilitate outgrowth of the jaws. SHH signaling is known to promote outgrowth and so we tested if differential regulation of the SHH pathway can account for species-specific variation in mandibular primordia size. We analyze gene expression of SHH pathway members in duck, chick, and quail, and find higher transcriptional activation in the larger mandibular primordia of duck relative to those of chick and quail. We generate quail-duck chimeras and demonstrate that such activation is NCM-mediated. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments reveal a species-specific response to SHH signaling, with the target Gas1 being most sensitive to manipulations. Gas1 overexpression and knockdown in NCM alters cell number and/or mandibular primordia size. Our work suggests that NCM-mediated changes in SHH signaling may modulate jaw size during development, disease, and evolution.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Details

Title
Differential regulation of SHH signaling and the developmental control of species-specific jaw size through neural crest-mediated Gas1 expression
Author
Vavrusova, Zuzana; Chu, Daniel B; Nguyen, An; Fish, Jennifer L; Schneider, Richard A
University/institution
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Section
New Results
Publication year
2021
Publication date
Dec 18, 2021
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
ISSN
2692-8205
Source type
Working Paper
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2611196219
Copyright
© 2021. This article is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (“the License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.