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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Genesis. 2009 Oct;47(10):680–687. doi: 10.1002/dvg.20547

Figure 2. Phenotypic evaluation of floxed Hoxc8 and floxed Hoxc8->c9 alleles prior to Cre-mediated recombination.

Figure 2

(a–e) Hoxc8 mRNA expression in e10.5 embryos revealed by whole mournt in situ hybridization, dashed lines mark the position of the forelimbs.

In wild-type (a) and Hoxc8F/F- GFP (b) embryos, the rostral boundary of Hoxc8 expression in the ventral neural tube is located at ~s8 (white arrows), while the rostral boundary of mesodermal expression is located ~s13 (yellow arrows). In a Hoxc8->c9F/F- GFP embryo (c), the rostral boundary of neural Hoxc8 expression is located at ~s7 (white arrow), while the rostral boundary of mesodermal expression is located ~s12 (yellow arrow). In Hoxc8F/F- LacZ (d) and Hoxc8->c9F/F- LacZ (e) embryos, the rostral boundary of neural Hoxc8 expression is located at ~s6 (white arrows), while the rostral boundary of mesodermal expression is located ~ s10 (yellow arrows). Scale bar=0.5mm.

(f–j) Lateral view of vertebral columns at cervical to rostral thoracic levels from e18.5 embryos. Cartilage is stained by Alcian Blue BGX and ossified bones are stained by Alizarin Red S. Wild-type (f), Hoxc8F/F- GFP (g), and Hoxc8->c9F/F- GFP (h) embryos have 7 cervical vertebrae with their first rib originating from the first thoracic vertebra (open arrows), while Hoxc8F/F- LacZ (i), and Hoxc8->c9F/F- LacZ (j) embryos exhibit an anterior transformation with an extra rib originating from C7 (green arrows).

(k–o) Ventral view of the rib cages from e18.5 embryos. In wild-type (k) and Hxoc8F/F- GFP (l) embryos, the 6th and the 7th ribs are the last two ribs attached to the sterna (black brackets). In Hoxc8->c9F/F- GFP (m), as well as Hoxc8F/F- LacZ (n) and Hoxc8->c9F/F- LacZ (o) embryos, their 8th ribs are also attached to the sterna (black brackets). Scale bars=1mm.

(p) Forelimb grip strength of Hoxc8F/+, Hoxc8F/F, Hoxc8->c9F/+, and Hoxc8->c9F/F adult male mice with either GFP or LacZ reporters, compared to their wild-type littermates. No significant difference was observed between different genotypes within each allele.