Roles of retinoic acid receptors and of Hox genes in the patterning of the teeth and of the jaw skeleton

Abstract

Retinoic acid receptors and transcriptional factors encoded by Hox genes play key roles in vertebrate development and belong to an integrated functional network. To investigate the actual functions of these molecules during ontogenesis and in particular in the patterning of the cranial neural crest cells giving rise to the teeth and to the jaw bones, we have generated null mutant mice lacking functional retinoic acid receptors or Hox genes by gene targeting in embryonic stem cells.