ANALYSIS OF CRANIAL SKELETO-MUSCULAR ATTACHMENTS IN MICE

描述（改编自研究者摘要）： 哺乳动物的后脑对于头部结构的正常发育是必不可少的。 后脑分割的丧失可导致肌肉、神经元和骨骼 缺陷后脑分割也被认为是重要的， 决定了肌肉如何附着在头部的骨骼上。在小鸡身上， 肌肉结缔组织附着在骨骼成分上， 来自同一后脑节的细胞群。无论是 在人类和小鼠中，许多基因的突变已被证明会导致 颅骨缺损然而，突变小鼠的颅骨骨骼肌肉附着 和人类患者尚未被表征。的细胞组成 在野生型和突变型小鼠中的颅骨骨骼-肌肉附着将被 使用最近开发的FLPe位点特异性重组酶系统进行分析。 该系统将允许遗传标记的特定群体的细胞， 分割的后脑在以后的发展中， 在野生型和非野生型中， 将分析突变动物。了解肌肉如何附着在特定的 没有明显解剖标志的骨骼成分区域， 对于理解颅骨骨骼肌肉附着是如何 在进化过程中保留下来。此外，识别遗传成分 负责颅骨骨骼肌肉附着的是必要的第一步 来识别将肌肉附着在骨骼结构上所需的蛋白质。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the Investigator's Abstract): Segmentation of the mammalian hindbrain is essential for the proper development of head structures. Loss of hindbrain segmentation can result in muscle, neuronal and skeletal defects. Hindbrain segmentation has also been proposed to be important in determining how muscles attach to skeletal elements in the head. In chicks, muscle connective tissue is attached to skeletal elements composed of populations of cells originating from the same hindbrain segment. In both humans and mice, mutations in a number of genes have been shown to result in cranial defects. However, cranial skeleto-muscular attachments in mutant mice and human patients have not been characterized. The cellular composition of cranial skeleto-muscular attachments in both wild type and mutant mice will be analyzed using the recently developed FLPe site-specific recombinase system. This system will allow heritable marking of specific populations of cells in the segmented hindbrain. During later development, the contribution hindbrain cells provide to cranial skeleto-muscular attachments in both wild type and mutant animals will be analyzed. Understanding how muscles attach to specific regions of skeletal elements that have no obvious anatomical landmarks is important for understanding how cranial skeleto-muscular attachments are retained during evolution. In addition, identifying genetic components responsible for cranial skeleto-muscular attachments is an essential first step in identifying proteins required for attaching muscles to skeletal structures.