Jourdeuil Karyn, Franz-Odendaal Tamara Anne
Department of Medical Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S. B3H 4R2, Canada; Department of Biology, Mount Saint Vincent University, 166 Bedford Highway, Halifax, N.S. B3M 2J6, Canada.
Gene Expr Patterns. 2016 Sep;22(1):30-36. doi: 10.1016/j.gep.2016.09.003. Epub 2016 Sep 21.
The induction and patterning of the conjunctival papillae (i.e. epithelial thickenings of the conjunctiva required for the induction of the underlying, neural crest-derived scleral ossicles) is complex. It takes place over a period of two days and follows a defined spatiotemporal sequence. In this study, we investigated the spatial and temporal expression pattern of four genes over seven morphological stages of development of these papillae. We show that β-catenin is expressed during the pre-patterning of the epithelium prior to papilla induction and second that β-catenin, Ednrb and Inhba are expressed during the induction and patterning of the conjunctival papillae. Furthermore, we identified two genes, β-catenin and Prox1, that may be involved in the induction of the underlying scleral bones. These data provide an excellent baseline for future studies, setting the stage for functional studies aimed at examining the role of these genes in the patterning of the scleral ossicle system. This study also outlines the similarities between the conjunctival papillae and other placodes and may provide insights into the evolution and development of the conjunctival papillae.
结膜乳头（即诱导下方神经嵴衍生的巩膜小骨所必需的结膜上皮增厚）的诱导和模式形成过程很复杂。它在两天的时间内发生，并遵循特定的时空顺序。在本研究中，我们调查了在这些乳头发育的七个形态学阶段中四个基因的时空表达模式。我们发现，β-连环蛋白在乳头诱导前的上皮预模式形成期间表达，其次，β-连环蛋白、内皮素受体B（Ednrb）和抑制素βA（Inhba）在结膜乳头的诱导和模式形成期间表达。此外，我们鉴定出两个基因，β-连环蛋白和Prox1，它们可能参与下方巩膜骨的诱导。这些数据为未来的研究提供了一个很好的基线，为旨在研究这些基因在巩膜小骨系统模式形成中作用的功能研究奠定了基础。本研究还概述了结膜乳头与其他基板之间的相似性，并可能为结膜乳头的进化和发育提供见解。
