title: Subtle cerebellar phenotype in mice homozygous for a targeted deletion of the En-2 homeobox.
abstract: The two mouse genes, En-1 and En-2, that are homologs of the Drosophila segmentation gene engrailed, show overlapping spatially restricted patterns of expression in the neural tube during embryogenesis, suggestive of a role in regional specification. Mice homozygous for a targeted mutation that deletes the homeobox were viable and showed no obvious defects in embryonic development. This may be due to functional redundancy of En-2 and the related En-1 gene product during embryogenesis. Consistent with this hypothesis, the mutant mice showed abnormal foliation in the adult cerebellum, where En-2, and not En-1, is normally expressed.
authors.affiliation: Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Joyner
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Herrup
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Auerbach
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rossant
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst; D002460:Cell Line; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology; D002678:Chimera; D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D005260:Female; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology; D010641:Phenotype