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Molecular and Cellular Biology, December 2001, p. 8197-8202, Vol. 21, No. 23
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.23.8197-8202.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Normal Gonadal Development in Mice Lacking GPBOX, a Homeobox Protein Expressed in Germ Cells at the Onset of Sexual Dimorphism

Nobuyoshi Takasaki, Tracy Rankin, and Jurrien Dean^*

Laboratory of Cellular and Developmental Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Received 15 June 2001/Accepted 14 August 2001

Gpbox is a paired-like homeobox gene that colocalizes with two other members of the family, PsxI and Pem, on the proximal portion of the mouse X chromosome. Gpbox is expressed in the extraembryonic placenta and within the germ cells of the embryonic gonad. Beginning with the onset of sexual dimorphism (embryonic day [E]11.5 to 12.5), GPBOX transcripts accumulate faster in female than in male germ cells but disappear later in embryogenesis (E16) and have not been reported in adult tissues. To investigate the function of Gpbox, mouse cell lines lacking GPBOX were established using targeted mutagenesis in embryonic stem cells. Both homozygous Gpbox null female and hemizygous Gpbox null male mice were fertile and reproduced normally. Additionally, the development of male and female gonads in the null background was indistinguishable from that observed in normal littermates. The lack of an obvious phenotype raises the possibility that another member of this homeobox gene family provides the absent Gpbox function.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Cellular and Developmental Biology, NIDDK, Building 50, Room 3134, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892. Phone: (301) 496-2738. Fax: (301) 496-5239. E-mail: jurrien{at}helix.nih.gov.

Present address: Department of Morphogenesis, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan.

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Molecular and Cellular Biology, December 2001, p. 8197-8202, Vol. 21, No. 23
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.23.8197-8202.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

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