title: Sox9-expressing precursors are the cellular origin of the cruciate ligament of the knee joint and the limb tendons.
abstract: Sox9 expression defines cell progenitors in a variety of tissues during mouse embryogenesis. To establish a genetic tool for cell-lineage tracing and gene-function analysis, we generated mice in which the CreERT2 gene was targeted to the endogenous mouse Sox9 locus. In Sox9(CreERT2/+) ;R26R embryos, tamoxifen activated Cre recombinase exclusively in Sox9-expressing tissues. To determine the suitability of this mouse line for developmental stage-specific gene recombination, we investigated the cellular origins of the cruciate ligaments of the knee joint and the limb tendons, in which precursor cells have not been defined. The cells in these tissues were labeled after tamoxifen treatment before or at the stage of chondrogenic mesenchymal condensation, indicating that ligament and tendon cells originated from Sox9-expressing cells and that cell fate determination occurred at mesenchymal condensation. This mouse line is a valuable tool for the temporal genetic tracing of the progeny of, and inducible gene modification in Sox9-expressing cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsunemitsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Soeda
authors.forename: Jian Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Crombrugghe
authors.forename: Richard R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Behringer
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akiyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005121:Extremities / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D016119:Posterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D013710:Tendons / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor; C527933:Sox9 protein, mouse
references.citation: Nucleic Acids Res. 1999 Nov 15;27(22):4324-7
references.pmid: 10536138
references.citation: Dev Biol. 2007 Apr 15;304(2):825-33
references.pmid: 17313942
references.citation: Genes Dev. 2003 Jul 1;17(13):1677-89
references.pmid: 12842915
references.citation: Genes Dev. 2002 Nov 1;16(21):2813-28
references.pmid: 12414734
references.citation: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2005 Dec;1061:9-17
references.pmid: 16467253
references.citation: Development. 2001 Oct;128(19):3855-66
references.pmid: 11585810
references.citation: Curr Biol. 1998 Dec 3;8(24):1323-6
references.pmid: 9843687
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Feb 6;104(6):1865-70
references.pmid: 17267606
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Aug 5;100(16):9360-5
references.pmid: 12878728
references.citation: Dev Biol. 1997 Mar 1;183(1):108-21
references.pmid: 9119111
references.citation: Curr Biol. 1994 Dec 1;4(12):1099-103
references.pmid: 7704573
references.citation: J Anat. 2008 Nov;213(5):531-8
references.pmid: 19014360
references.citation: Nat Genet. 1999 May;22(1):85-9
references.pmid: 10319868
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jun 5;98(12):6698-703
references.pmid: 11371614
references.citation: Genes Dev. 1995 Mar 15;9(6):686-99
references.pmid: 7729687
references.citation: Genesis. 2000 Feb;26(2):145-6
references.pmid: 10686612
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Oct 11;102(41):14665-70
references.pmid: 16203988
references.citation: Nat Genet. 1999 Jan;21(1):70-1
references.pmid: 9916792
references.citation: Dev Dyn. 2006 Sep;235(9):2603-12
references.pmid: 16894608
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Oct 1;93(20):10887-90
references.pmid: 8855277
references.citation: Development. 2004 May;131(9):1891-901
references.pmid: 15056615
references.citation: Cell. 2003 Apr 18;113(2):235-48
references.pmid: 12705871
references.citation: Development. 2007 Jul;134(14):2697-708
references.pmid: 17567668
references.citation: Nature. 1994 Dec 8;372(6506):525-30
references.pmid: 7990924
references.citation: Development. 2009 Apr;136(8):1351-61
references.pmid: 19304887