We have studied the expression patterns of the newly isolated homeobox gene, Hox-8 by in situ hybridisation to sections of the developing heads of mouse embryos between E9 and E17.5, and compared them to Hox-7 expression patterns in adjacent sections. This paper concentrates on the interesting expression patterns of Hox-8 during initiation and development of the molar and incisor teeth. Hox-8 e...

The mechanisms underlying deregulation of HOX gene expression in AML are poorly understood. The ParaHox gene CDX2 was shown to act as positive upstream regulator of several HOX genes. In this study, constitutive expression of Cdx2 caused perturbation of leukemogenic Hox genes such as Hoxa10 and Hoxb8 in murine hematopoietic progenitors. Deletion of the N-terminal domain of Cdx2 abrogated its ab...

Despite the identification of PBC proteins as cofactors that provide DNA affinity and binding specificity for the HOX homeodomain proteins, HOX proteins do not demonstrate robust activity in transient-transcription assays and few authentic downstream targets have been identified for these putative transcription factors. During a search for additional cofactors, we established that each of the 1...

A homeobox-containing clone has been isolated from an adult mouse kidney cDNA library and shown by DNA sequence analysis to be a new isolate, Hox-6.1. A genomic clone containing Hox-6.1 has been isolated and found to contain another putative homeobox sequence (Hox-6.2), within 7 kb of Hox-6.1. In situ hybridization of mouse metaphase chromosomes shows this Hox-6 locus to be located on chromosom...

Despite their homology and analogous function, the Hox gene clusters of vertebrates and invertebrates are subject to different constraints on their structural organization. This is demonstrated by a drastically different distribution of repetitive DNA elements in the Hox cluster regions. While gnathostomes have a strong tendency to exclude repetitive DNA elements from the inside of their Hox cl...

Like other HOX genes the murine Hox-2.4 gene is thought to be involved in regional specification along the antero-posterior axis. In addition it has been reported to have oncogenic potential. We studied expression Hox-2.4 in murine EC cells and determined the transcription start site. Studies of DNA-protein interactions in the promoter region showed that the Hox-2.4 promoter contains a CCAAT bo...

Hox collinearity is a spectacular phenomenon that has excited life scientists since its discovery in 1978. Two mechanisms have been proposed to explain the spatially sequential pattern of Hox gene expression in animal embryonic development: interactions among Hox genes, or the progressive opening of chromatin in the Hox clusters, from 3' to 5'. A review of the evidence across different species ...

The sequence of a mouse Hox 2.9 cDNA clone is presented. The predicted homeodomain is similar to that of the Drosophila gene labial showing 80 % identity. The equivalent gene in the Hox 1 cluster is Hox 1.6 which shows extensive similarity to Hox 2.9 both within and outside the homeodomain. Hox 2.9 and Hox 1.6 are the only two mouse members of the labial-like family of homeobox-containing genes...

Retinoic acid (RA) induces expression of genes encoding the Hox family of transcription factors, whose differential expression orchestrates developmental programs specifying anterior-posterior structures during embryogenesis. Hox proteins bind DNA as monomers and heterodimers with Pbx proteins. Here we show that RA upregulates Pbx protein abundance coincident with transcriptional activation of ...

Deuterostomes comprise a monophyletic group of animals that include chordates, xenoturbellids, and the Ambulacraria, which consists of echinoderms and hemichordates. The ancestral chordate probably had 14 Hox genes aligned linearly along the chromosome, with the posterior six genes showing an independent duplication compared to protostomes. In contrast, ambulacrarians are characterized by a dup...