Presentation Details
| Roles of Hedgehog Co-Receptor Gas1 during Postnatal Taste Organ Development Gabrielle C.Audu1, Ashlyn P.McClelland1, Aysenur Sen2, Alvaro Garcia-Blanco1, Archana Kumari1. 1Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ, USA.2Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA |
Abstract
Hedgehog (HH) signaling is vital for the development and maintenance of taste organs; however, its role in taste organ maturation after birth remains understudied. To date, HH activity within taste buds has been primarily attributed to the ligand sonic HH. Our recent studies revealed previously underexplored expression of the HH receptor Gas1 in embryonic, postnatal, and adult mouse taste buds of both anterior and posterior tongue regions. Studies conducted at postnatal day (P) 21 and later identified additional Gas1 expression in the anterior tongue epithelium. Although Gas1 loss results in craniofacial abnormalities, its specific roles in postnatal tongue maturation remain undefined. To address this gap, we used a knock-in lacZ reporter mouse to map Gas1 expression and assess its role in the postnatal tongue. While Gas1 mutant mice (Gas1lacZ/lacZ) on a C57BL/6 background are embryonically lethal, mutants maintained on a CD1 background survive postnatally, enabling functional analysis; therefore, all experiments were conducted using the CD1 line. Consistent with embryonic observations, postnatal Gas1 mutant tongues were significantly smaller than those of control (Gas1+/+) or heterozygous (Gas1lacZ/+) mice. Analysis of the anterior tongue revealed that epithelial Gas1 expression begins by P14. Loss-of-function studies at P21 further demonstrated region-specific roles for Gas1 during taste organ maturation. Mutants exhibited increased taste bud perimeter and a higher frequency of abnormal taste buds within anterior tongue fungiform papillae but pronounced reductions in both taste bud number and size in the posterior circumvallate papilla compared to controls and heterozygotes. In conclusion, these findings identify Gas1 as a critical, region-specific regulator of postnatal taste bud maturation.
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