Comparative analysis of Hoxa5 allelic series.
Analysis of the Hoxa5(-/-) mutants has revealed the critical role of Hoxa5 in survival, specification of axial identity, and ontogeny of organs, including the respiratory tract. The presence of the selection cassette in the original Hoxa5(-/-) mutation may interfere with the interpretation of the phenotypes. To circumvent this aspect and to bypass the lethality of the Hoxa5 mutation, we have designed a conditional approach and generated Hoxa5 allelic variants. The conditional allele (Hoxa5(floxed)) behaves as a wild-type allele. In contrast, both the Hoxa5(Delta) and the Hoxa5(floxneo) alleles are characterized by the loss of the functional transcript and protein, the lethality due to lung defects and the skeletal homeotic transformations similar to those of the Hoxa5(-/-) mutants. Analysis of neighboring Hox gene expression patterns in the Hoxa5 mutants produced further confirmed that the Hoxa5 allelic variants are true null alleles.
Tabariès
Sébastien
S
Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de l'Université Laval, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, L'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Québec, Canada.
Lemieux
Margot
M
Aubin
Josée
J
Jeannotte
Lucie
L
D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D005804:Genes, Lethal / Q000502:physiology; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008168:Lung / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009154:Mutation; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D013909:Thorax / Q000196:embryology; D014157:Transcription Factors
D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C059637:Hoxa5 protein, mouse; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D014157:Transcription Factors