title: The effect of dam strain on the craniofacial morphogenesis of CL/Fr mouse fetuses.
abstract: The embryo transfer technique and cephalometry were used to investigate the effect of dam strain in intrauterine craniofacial growth and the severity of cleft lip and palate (CLP) in a CLP-susceptible CL/Fr strain of embryos. The CL/Fr strain of embryos at early blastocyst stage was transferred to the same dam strain and to the CLP-resistant C57BL dam strain. On the 18th gestational day, each dam was laparotomized to take out the fetuses. The spontaneous incidence of CLP in the fetuses was checked and a cephalometric observation of the craniofacial complex of each fetus was done just after laparotomy. The dorsoventral craniofacial size of the unaffected fetuses and the severity of CLP i the affected ones were compared between both dam strains. The following results were obtained: 1) The overall craniofacial sizes of the unaffected fetuses observed in the CL/Fr dam strain were significantly smaller than those seen in the C57/BL dam strain. Those of the affected fetuses observed in the CL/Fr dam strain were smaller than those seen in the C57BL dam strain although the interstrain difference was not significant. 20 The dam strain had a highly significant effect on the craniofacial size of the unaffected fetuses. 3) The CLP frequency in the CL/Fr dam strain was significantly higher than that in the C57BL dam strain. 4) The severity of CLP in the affected fetuses observed in the CL/Fr dam strain was significantly more serious than that seen in the C57BL dam strain. These results indicated that the CLP-susceptible CL/Fr dam strain retarded the intrauterine craniofacial growth of the fetuses and that the cleft condition in the affected fetuses observed in the CL/Fr dam strain was more seriously affected than that seen in the CLP-resistant C57BL dam strain. Thus, it can be concluded that the effect of the dam strain played an important role in the craniofacial morphogenesis of the CL/Fr strain of mouse fetuses that developed from the embryo transferred to the CL/Fr and C57BL dam strains along with the genotype of embryos.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Kyushu University Faculty of Dentistry, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nonaka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yanagita
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakata
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002508:Cephalometry; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000196:embryology*; D005260:Female; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008098:Litter Size; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D014599:Uterus