Disruption of Msx-1 and Msx-2 reveals roles for these genes in craniofacial, eye, and axial development.

In mouse embryos, the muscle segment homeobox genes, Msx-1 and Msx-2 are expressed during critical stages of neural tube, neural crest, and craniofacial development, suggesting that these genes play important roles in organogenesis and cell differentiation. Although the patterns of expression are intriguing, little is known about the function of these genes in vertebrate embryonic development. Therefore, the expression of both genes, separately and together, was disrupted using antisense oligodeoxynucleotides and whole embryo culture techniques. Antisense attenuation of Msx-1 during early stages of neurulation produced hypoplasia of the maxillary, mandibular, and frontonasal prominences, eye anomalies, and somite and neural tube abnormalities. Eye defects consisted of enlarged optic vesicles, which may ultimately result in micropthalmia similar to that observed in Small eye mice homozygous for mutations in the Pax-6 gene. Histological sections and SEM analysis revealed a thinning of the neuroepithelium in the diencephalon and optic vesicle and mesenchymal deficiencies in the craniofacial region. Injections of Msx-2 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides produced similar malformations as those targeting Msx-1, with the exception that there was an increase in number and severity of neural tube and somite defects. Embryos injected with the combination of Msx-1 + Msx-2 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides showed no novel abnormalities, suggesting that the genes do not operate in a redundant manner.