Fig. 5.

Cranial neurulation is impaired in nestin-Vangl2 embryos. (A-C) E8.5 wild-type and Vangl2-overexpressing embryos. Mildly affected transgenic embryos (B) were slightly smaller than wild-type embryos (A), with somewhat loose bodies and partly splayed out neural folds (E). Severely affected transgenic embryos (C) displayed small, flaccid bodies with the neural folds splayed out (F). (D-F) Transversal sections from the rostral neural tube of embryos A-C showing expression of Vangl2 mRNA. Expression levels correlated well with the severity of the phenotype. (G-I) E9.5 embryos. Cranial neural fold closure was completed in wild-type embryos (G), whereas transgenic embryos displayed an open cranial neural tube (H,I). Transgenic embryos were also smaller in size than their wild-type littermates. (J-L) Vangl2 mRNA expression in embryos G-H. Scale bars: 50 μm.