Dynamic expression and heterogeneous intracellular location of En-1 during late mouse embryonic development.
Engrailed-1 (En-1) is a transcription factor involved in the development of the midbrain/hindbrain during mouse early embryogenesis. Although En-1 is expressed from embryogenesis to adulthood, there has been no detailed description of its expression during late mouse embryonic development. Here we report the expression pattern of En-1 in the mouse embryo from E10.5 to the neonatal state. With immunohistochemistry we found that En-1 was expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) from E10.5 to the neonatal state, mostly restricted to the midbrain/hindbrain junction. Outside the CNS, En-1 is dynamically expressed in several neural crest-associated structures including the cranial mesenchyme, the mandibular arches, the vagus nerve, the dorsal root ganglia, the sympathetic ganglia, the somites, the heart and the cloaca. Additionally, we found that in the CNS, most of the En-1 was located in the nuclei, while outside the CNS, En-1 was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm. These findings provided additional evidence that En-1 may be involved in the development of neural crest cells.
Zhong
Shan-chuan
SC
Department of Histology and Embryology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, Republic of China.
Chen
Xing-shu
XS
Cai
Qi-yan
QY
Luo
Xue
X
Chen
Xing-hua
XH
Liu
Jing
J
Yao
Zhong-xiang
ZX
D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000196:embryology*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism*; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000235:genetics; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism
C080330:En1 protein, mouse; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins