Identification of a growth arrest specific (gas 5) gene by differential display as a candidate gene for determining susceptibility to hyperthermia-induced exencephaly in mice
✍ Scribed by Vacha, Scott J. ;Bennett, Gregory D. ;Mackler, Scott A. ;Koebbe, Mark J. ;Finnell, Richard H.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 224 KB
- Volume
- 21
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0192-253X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Neural tube defects (NTDs) are among the most common congenital malformations, affecting approximately 1 per 1,000 liveborn infants in the United States . Maternal exposure to hyperthermia, either through recreational sources or due to an infectious agent, is thought to account for approximately 10% of observed NTD cases. The specific genes conferring susceptibility or resistance to hyperthermia-induced NTDs have not been identified. This study used differential display-polymerase chain reaction (DD-PCR) to characterize alterations in gene expression in the anterior embryonic neural tube of two highly inbred murine strains (SWV/Fnn, LM/Bc/Fnn) known to differ in their genetically determined susceptibility to heat-induced NTDs. Herein, we report the neural tube-specific differential expression of the growth arrest specific (gas 5) gene in the highly susceptible SWV/Fnn strain during neural tube closure (NTC). Although the expression of gas 5 did not appear to be altered by the teratogenic heat treatment, its spatial and strain-specific pattern of expression makes it an excellent candidate gene responsible for the observed genetic differences in NTD susceptibility between these two inbred murine strains. Dev. Genet.