Dynamic expression patterns of the pudgy/spondylocostal dysostosis gene Dll3 in the developing nervous system.

Defects in the Notch pathway ligand Dll3 have been identified in the mouse pudgy (Dll3(pu)) and human spondylocostal dysostosis (SD, MIM 277300) mutations. Although these mutations are primarily associated with segmental defects in the axial skeleton and somitic patterning, they also exhibit cranial neurological defects. Therefore we have looked at the expression of Dll3 in the developing mouse nervous system. The expression of Notch ligands and receptors shares common features at 10.75 dpc in the rhombic lips and dorsal hindbrain. Temporal analysis of Dll3 expression from 9.0 to 11.0 dpc reveals that it is strongly expressed in laminar columns linked with regions of neuronal differentiation and hindbrain segmentation. Transverse sections show that Dll3 is expressed in territories where commissural neurons are formed. We have also looked at neuronal patterning in the mid-hindbrain region in Dll3(pu) mutants.