| First Author | Lei R | Year | 2016 |
| Journal | PLoS One | Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 2 | Pages | e0147535 |
| PubMed ID | 26859889 | Mgi Jnum | J:254756 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6092968 | Doi | 10.1371/journal.pone.0147535 |
| Citation | Lei R, et al. (2016) G-Protein alpha-Subunit Gsalpha Is Required for Craniofacial Morphogenesis. PLoS One 11(2):e0147535 |
| abstractText | The heterotrimeric G protein subunit Gsalpha couples receptors to activate adenylyl cyclase and is required for the intracellular cAMP response and protein kinase A (PKA) activation. Gsalpha is ubiquitously expressed in many cell types; however, the role of Gsalpha in neural crest cells (NCCs) remains unclear. Here we report that NCCs-specific Gsalpha knockout mice die within hours after birth and exhibit dramatic craniofacial malformations, including hypoplastic maxilla and mandible, cleft palate and craniofacial skeleton defects. Histological and anatomical analysis reveal that the cleft palate in Gsalpha knockout mice is a secondary defect resulting from craniofacial skeleton deficiencies. In Gsalpha knockout mice, the morphologies of NCCs-derived cranial nerves are normal, but the development of dorsal root and sympathetic ganglia are impaired. Furthermore, loss of Gsalpha in NCCs does not affect cranial NCCs migration or cell proliferation, but significantly accelerate osteochondrogenic differentiation. Taken together, our study suggests that Gsalpha is required for neural crest cells-derived craniofacial development. |