Of Mice and Snakes: A Tail of Oct4

Natalia A Shylo; Scott D Weatherbee

doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2016.07.020

Of Mice and Snakes: A Tail of Oct4

Dev Cell. 2016 Aug 8;38(3):224-6. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2016.07.020.

Authors

Natalia A Shylo¹, Scott D Weatherbee²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
² Department of Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. Electronic address: scott.weatherbee@yale.edu.

PMID: 27505413
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2016.07.020

Abstract

The vertebrate axial skeleton comprises regions of specialized vertebrae, which vary in length between lineages. Aires et al. (2016) uncover a key role for Oct4 in determining trunk length in mice. Additionally, a heterochronic shift in Oct4 expression may underlie the extreme elongation of the trunk in snakes.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Animals
Biological Evolution*
Bone and Bones / metabolism*
Mice / anatomy & histology*
Mice / metabolism
Octamer Transcription Factors / metabolism*
Snakes / anatomy & histology*
Snakes / metabolism
Torso / anatomy & histology*

Substances

Octamer Transcription Factors