Functional interactions between shox and hox genes during limb development

转录因子蛋白在发育过程中控制基因表达，从而将模式引入胚胎。一个这样的模式过程是胚胎中四肢（手臂和腿）的形成。我们现在知道，不同的转录因子对于四肢的特定部分的发育是必需的。由于这个原因，当转录因子的功能缺失时，就会导致出生缺陷。因为所有哺乳动物的发育模式都是相似的，所以我们用老鼠的肢体发育作为模型。例如，我们发现小鼠转录因子Shox2是形成肢体近端节（手臂的肱骨和腿部的股骨）所必需的。Shox2与人类的SHOX蛋白密切相关，该蛋白是人类正常肢体发育所必需的。

Transcription factor proteins control gene expression during development in order to introduce pattern into the embryo. One such patterning process is the formation of the limbs (arms and legs) in the embryo. We now know that different transcription factors are necessary to develop specific segments of the limbs. For this reason, birth defects can result when the function of a transcription factor is missing. Because developmental pattering is similar in all mammals, we use limb development in the mouse as a model. For example, we have found that the mouse transcription factor Shox2 is necessary to form the proximal segment of the limbs (the humerus in the arms and the femur in the legs). Shox2 is closely related to the human SHOX protein, which is necessary for normal limb development in humans.