Department of Systems BioMedicine, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Tokyo 157-8535, Japan.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jun 8;107(23):10538-42. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1000525107. Epub 2010 May 24.
Mohawk (Mkx) is a member of the Three Amino acid Loop Extension superclass of atypical homeobox genes that is expressed in developing tendons. To investigate the in vivo functions of Mkx, we generated Mkx(-/-) mice. These mice had hypoplastic tendons throughout the body. Despite the reduction in tendon mass, the cell number in tail tendon fiber bundles was similar between wild-type and Mkx(-/-) mice. We also observed small collagen fibril diameters and a down-regulation of type I collagen in Mkx(-/-) tendons. These data indicate that Mkx plays a critical role in tendon differentiation by regulating type I collagen production in tendon cells.
莫霍克 (Mkx) 是三氨基酸环延伸超家族的非典型同源盒基因成员，在发育中的肌腱中表达。为了研究 Mkx 的体内功能，我们生成了 Mkx(-/-) 小鼠。这些小鼠的全身肌腱都发育不良。尽管肌腱质量减少，但野生型和 Mkx(-/-) 小鼠尾巴肌腱纤维束中的细胞数量相似。我们还观察到 Mkx(-/-)肌腱中的胶原纤维直径较小，I 型胶原表达下调。这些数据表明，Mkx 通过调节肌腱细胞中 I 型胶原的产生，在肌腱分化中发挥关键作用。
