Fig. 1

Comparison of the embryonic skeletal development in embryonic days 15.5 and 16.5 wild-type and Tfap2e ^−/− mice. a The total weight and size of 15.5- and 16.5-day-old (E15.5 and E16.5, respectively) wild-type (WT) and Tfap2e ^−/− embryos derived from three independent heterozygote litters per time point were approximately identical. b In situ hybridization against collagen, type II, alpha 1 (Col10a1) and collagen, type X, alpha 1 (Col10a1) mRNA on the hind limbs of the embryos and subsequent measurement of the total femur length, the Col2a1 and Col10a1 expression zones and the bone region was performed. The latter three were normalized to total femur length; the distal and proximal expression zones of Col2a1 and Col10a1 were combined before normalization. A slight but significant increase in the Col10a1 expression zone could be observed in the Tfap2e ^−/− fetuses at E16.5. Otherwise, no evidence for abnormal development in the Tfap2e ^−/− mice could be determined. The data are given as the means ± standard error of the mean. ns, Not significant; Tfap2e ^−/−, Deficient for activating enhancer binding protein 2, epsilon. *P < 0.05. Numbers indicate individual embryos used for each group