期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2010
卷号：107
期号：23
页码：10538-10542
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1000525107
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Mohawk (Mkx) is a member of the Three Amino acid Loop Extension superclass of atypical homeobox genes that is expressed in developing tendons. To investigate the in vivo functions of Mkx, we generated Mkx-/- mice. These mice had hypoplastic tendons throughout the body. Despite the reduction in tendon mass, the cell number in tail tendon fiber bundles was similar between wild-type and Mkx-/- mice. We also observed small collagen fibril diameters and a down-regulation of type I collagen in Mkx-/- tendons. These data indicate that Mkx plays a critical role in tendon differentiation by regulating type I collagen production in tendon cells.
