Expression patterns of sulfatase genes in the developing mouse embryo.

Mammalian sulfatase enzymes participate in various processes, such as hormone regulation, lysosomal degradation and modulation of several signaling pathways. The sulfatase gene family consists of 14 members in mice and 17 in humans. Mutations of at least eight members are associated with human disorders, with main disease manifestations in the nervous system and skeleton. Despite their biological significance, little is known about their expression during embryonic development, especially for the more recently discovered gene family members. By in situ hybridization, we compared the expression patterns of nine sulfatases: ArsB, ArsG, ArsI, ArsJ, Galns, Gns, Ids, Sulf1, and Sulf2 in midgestation mouse embryos. Of interest, overlapping expression domains of several sulfatases could be detected in the developing central nervous system, eye, skeleton, and inner organs. Moreover, novel expression patterns for ArsG in choroid plexus, ArsI in hypertrophic chondrocytes and ArsJ in joints were identified.