title: Elf5 and Ets2 maintain the mouse extraembryonic ectoderm in a dosage dependent synergistic manner.
abstract: The ETS superfamily transcription factors Elf5 and Ets2 have both been implicated in the maintenance of the extraembryonic ectoderm (ExE) of the mouse embryo. While homozygous mutants of either gene result in various degrees of ExE tissue loss, heterozygotes are without phenotype. We show here that compound heterozygous mutants exhibit a phenotype intermediate to that of the more severe Elf5-/- and the milder Ets2-/- mutants. Functional redundancy is shown via commonalities in expression patterns, in target gene expression, and by partial rescue of Elf5-/- mutants through overexpressing Ets2 in an Elf5-like fashion. A model is presented suggesting the functional division of the ExE region into a proximal and distal domain based on gene expression patterns and the proximal to distal increasing sensitivity to threshold levels of combined Elf5 and Ets2 activity.
authors.affiliation: AgResearch Ruakura, 10 Bisley Road, Hamilton 3214, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Martyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Donnison
authors.affiliation: AgResearch Ruakura, 10 Bisley Road, Hamilton 3214, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Ric
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Broadhurst
authors.affiliation: AgResearch Ruakura, 10 Bisley Road, Hamilton 3214, New Zealand; School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. Electronic address: peter.pfeffer@vuw.ac.nz.
authors.forename: Peter L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Pfeffer
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D002417:Cattle; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D004475:Ectoderm / Q000502:physiology*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006579:Heterozygote; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010641:Phenotype; D050787:Proto-Oncogene Protein c-ets-2 / Q000502:physiology*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C500759:Elf5 protein, mouse; C494070:Ets2 protein, mouse; D050787:Proto-Oncogene Protein c-ets-2; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: Ectoplacental cone; Elf5; Ets2; Extraembryonic ectoderm; Plac1; Spry4; Trophoblast