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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Dev Biol. 2011 Apr 28;355(1):21–31. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2011.04.026

Figure 7. Model for interrelated processes leading to craniofacial phenotypes and craniofacial phenotypic variability in Twsg1−/− mice.

Figure 7

Loss of TWSG1 disrupts the BMP gradient within BA1, which leads to mispatterning of BA1, increased cellular stress, increased apoptosis, and reduced outgrowth. Apoptotic tissue loss and loss of peak BMP activity lead to a reduction in BMP targets and other genes expressed in the distal region of BA1 and evoke stress and metabolic responses as well as compensatory changes in gene expression. This is compounded by likely changes in the epigenome as well as stochastic fluctuations in gene expression and signaling pathways, leading to phenotypic variation.