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Animal Sciences Commons

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Zoology

Evolution

2007

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Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences

Runx2 Is Essential For Larval Hyobranchial Cartilage Formation In Xenopus Laevis, Ryan Kerney, Joshua Gross, James Hanken Dec 2006

Runx2 Is Essential For Larval Hyobranchial Cartilage Formation In Xenopus Laevis, Ryan Kerney, Joshua Gross, James Hanken

Ryan Kerney

The vertebrate transcription factor protein Runx2 is regarded as a “master regulator” of bone formation due to the dramatic loss of the osseous skeleton in the mouse homozygous knockout. However, Runx2 mRNA also is expressed in the pre-hypertrophic cartilaginous skeleton of the mouse and chicken, where its developmental function is largely unknown. Several tiers of Runx2 regulation exist in the mouse, any of which may account for its seeming biological inactivity during early stages of skeletogenesis. Unlike mouse and chicken, zebrafish require Runx2 function in early cartilage differentiation. The present study reveals that the earlier functional role of Runx2 in …