Abstracts of papers presented at the 24th Genetics Society's Mammalian Genetics and Development Workshop held at the Institute of Child Health, University College London on 21st November 2013

摘要

The submucosal glands (SMGs) of the respiratory systemare specialized structures essential for maintaininghuman airway homoeostasis. The significance of theseglands is highlighted by their involvement in seriousrespiratory diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, wheretheir phenotype and function are severely altered.Surprisingly, very little is known about SMG developmentand differentiation. To understand the molecularmechanisms involved we have investigated thedevelopment of nasal and tracheal SMGs in theFgf10 mutant mouse. Fgf10 is expressed in the mesenchymearound the developing SMGs, and in heterozygousmice the tracheal glands have reducedbranching. These mice also have an altered A/P distributionof the glands post-natally, a deficit that is notrecovered in adults. In the nasal glands, some butnot all glands were lost in the homozygous mutant,indicating that not all glands require Fgf10 for initiation.Some of the glands present in the Fgf10homozygote were missing in the Fgfr2b mutant, suggestingcompensation by another Fgf ligand. Weaim to uncover the expression patterns of a numberof Fgfs during early gland development and to studythe functional consequence of loss of SMGs inFgf10 heterozygotes by assessing the ability of thesemice to respond to respiratory challenges.