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Molecular and Cellular Biology, December 2001, p. 8184-8188, Vol. 21, No. 23
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.23.8184-8188.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

The Mouse Snail Gene Encodes a Key Regulator of the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

Ethan A. Carver, Rulang Jiang, Yu Lan, Kathleen F. Oram, and Thomas Gridley^*

The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609

Received 2 August 2001/Accepted 28 August 2001

Snail family genes encode DNA binding zinc finger proteins that act as transcriptional repressors. Mouse embryos deficient for the Snail (Sna) gene exhibit defects in the formation of the mesoderm germ layer. In Sna^/ mutant embryos, a mesoderm layer forms and mesodermal marker genes are induced but the mutant mesoderm is morphologically abnormal. Lacunae form within the mesoderm layer of the mutant embryos, and cells lining these lacunae retain epithelial characteristics. These cells resemble a columnar epithelium and have apical-basal polarity, with microvilli along the apical surface and intercellular electron-dense adhesive junctions that resemble adherens junctions. E-cadherin expression is retained in the mesoderm of the Sna^/ embryos. These defects are strikingly similar to the gastrulation defects observed in snail-deficient Drosophila embryos, suggesting that the mechanism of repression of E-cadherin transcription by Snail family proteins may have been present in the metazoan ancestor of the arthropod and mammalian lineages.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: The Jackson Laboratory, 600 Main St., Bar Harbor, ME 04609. Phone: (207) 288-6237. Fax: (207) 288-6077. E-mail: gridley{at}jax.org.

Present address: Center for Oral Biology and Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14642.

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Molecular and Cellular Biology, December 2001, p. 8184-8188, Vol. 21, No. 23
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.23.8184-8188.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

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