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Molecular and Cellular Biology, May 2001, p. 3343-3350, Vol. 21, No. 10
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.10.3343-3350.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Six4, a Putative myogenin
Gene Regulator, Is Not Essential for Mouse Embryonal
Development
Hidenori
Ozaki,1
Yoko
Watanabe,1
Katsumasa
Takahashi,2
Ken
Kitamura,2,
Akira
Tanaka,3
Koko
Urase,4
Takashi
Momoi,4
Katsuko
Sudo,5
Junko
Sakagami,5
Masahide
Asano,5,
Yoichiro
Iwakura,5 and
Kiyoshi
Kawakami1,*
Departments of
Biology,1
Otolaryngology,2 and
Pathology,3 Jichi Medical School,
Tochigi 329-0498, Division of Development and Differentiation,
National Institute of Neuroscience, NCNP, Kodaira, Tokyo
187-8502,4 and Division of Cell
Biology, Center for Experimental Medicine, Institute of Medical
Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639,5
Japan
Received 27 November 2000/Returned for modification 9 January
2001/Accepted 21 February 2001
Six4 is a member of the Six family genes,
homologues of Drosophila melanogaster sine oculis. The gene
is thought to be involved in neurogenesis, myogenesis, and development
of other organs, based on its specific expression in certain neuronal
cells of the developing embryo and in adult skeletal muscles. To
elucidate the biological roles of Six4, we generated
Six4-deficient mice by replacing the Six
homologous region and homeobox by the
-galactosidase gene.
5-Bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-
-D-galactopyranoside staining of the heterozygous mutant embryos revealed expression of
Six4 in cranial and dorsal root ganglia, somites, otic and
nasal placodes, branchial arches, Rathke's pouch, apical ectodermal
ridges of limb buds, and mesonephros. The expression pattern was
similar to that of Six1 except at the early stage of
embryonic day 8.5. Six4-deficient mice were born according
to the Mendelian rule with normal gross appearance and were fertile. No
hearing defects were detected. Six4-deficient embryos
showed no morphological abnormalities, and the expression patterns of
several molecular markers, e.g., myogenin and
NeuroD3 (neurogenin1), were normal. Our results
indicate that Six4 is not essential for mouse embryogenesis and suggest that other members of the Six family seem to
compensate for the loss of Six4.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Biology, Jichi Medical School, 3311-1 Yakushiji, Minamikawachi,
Kawachi, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan. Phone: 81 (285) 58-7311. Fax: 81 (285) 44-5476. E-mail: kkawakam{at}jichi.ac.jp.

Present address: Department of Otolaryngology, Tokyo Medical and
Dental University, Tokyo 113-8519,
Japan.

Present address: Institute for Experimental Animals, Faculty of
Medicine, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-8640,
Japan.
Molecular and Cellular Biology, May 2001, p. 3343-3350, Vol. 21, No. 10
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.10.3343-3350.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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