Craniofacial Developmental Atlas of Protein Expression of the House Finch

Expression of β-catenin, BMP4, CaM, DKK3, FGF8, IHH, TGFβ2 and WNT4 across the house finch beak at stage HH42.

β-catenin

β-catenin expression at HH42

β-catenin (brown stain) shows overall weak cytoplasmic expression with moderate to high cytoplasmic and nuclear or cytoplasmic, nuclear and membranal epithelial expression. ( 1) Medium cytoplasmic and nuclear expression in emerging osteogenic region and border of dermal condensation, epithelium with strong expression. Moderate nuclear expression in dermal condensation. (2) No expression in nasal cartilage and medium cytoplasmic and nuclear expression in adjacent myogenic area. (3) Cartilage with no expression, weak cytoplasmic and nuclear expression in perichondrogenic area and strong cytoplasmic, nuclear and membranal expression in epithelium surrounding nasal conchae. (4) Medium cytoplasmic, nuclear and membranal expression in epithelium at the tip, weak cytoplasmic and nuclear expression in perichondrogenic area and only weak cytoplasmic expression in surrounding mesenchyme. (5) Paraglossal cartilage with no expression and weak cytoplasmic expression in mesenchymal cells. (6) Moderate cytoplasmic and nuclear expression in muscle and outer layer of dermal condensation followed by moderate nuclear and no expression. Scale bars are 50µm. See β-catenin expression across all stages here.

BMP4

BMP4 expression at HH42

BMP4 (red stain) shows overall weak cytoplasmic expression and no expression at the tip. Blood cells with weak to strong cytoplasmic expression. (1) Nasal cartilage with no expression and weak cytoplasmic expression in surrounding mesenchyme. (2) Moderate expression in nasal conchae but no expression in surrounding cartilage. (3) Emerging osteogenic region and mesenchyme show no expression, but pockets of blood cells show medium cytoplasmic expression. (4) Paraglossal cartilage with no expression and weak cytoplasmic expression in myogenic area. (5) Low cytoplasmic expression in mesenchyme and salivary glands but no expression in dermal condensations. (6) Meckel's cartilage and surrounding mesenchyme shows no expression, epithelium and periosteogenic area shows weak cytoplasmic expression. Scale bars are 50µm. See BMP4 expression across all stages here.

CaM

CaM expression at HH42

CaM (brown stain) is locally expressed but shows no expression in mesenchyme of upper and lower jaw. (1) Dermal condensations, surrounding mesenchyme and epithelium show no expression. (2) Weak cytoplasmic and nuclear expression in nasal conchae. (3, 4) Moderate to strong cytoplasmic and nuclear expression in myogenic area. (5) Meckel's cartilage and mesenchyme with no expression. Scale bars are 50µm. See CaM expression across all stages here.

DKK3

DKK3 expression at HH42

DKK3 (red stain) shows moderate cytoplasmic expression in (1) nasal epithelium and (1, 2) nasal conchae with weak expression in adjacent cartilage and no expression in mesenchyme. (3) Paraglossal cartilage with no expression and myogenic area with weak cytoplasmic expression. (4) Muscle and adjacent epithelium with medium cytoplasmic expression. (5, 6) Weak to moderate cytoplasmic expression in epithelium, weak expression in emerging osteogenic region, weak to no expression in surrounding mesenchyme. Scale bars are 50µm. See DKK3 expression across all stages here.

FGF8

FGF8 expression at HH42

FGF8 (brown stain) is weakly expressed in the cytoplasm across the upper and lower jaw. (1) Strong nuclear expression in cartilage with no expression in osteogenic area and weak cytoplasmic expression in periosteogenic area and mesenchyme. (2) Moderate cytoplasmic and nuclear expression in epithelium but no expression in overlaying mesenchyme. (3) Blood cells with high cytoplasmic and nuclear expression. (4) No expression in paraglossal cartilage with strong nuclear expression in cartilage edges. (5) Weak cytoplasmic expression in dermal condensations, mesenchyme and muscle with medium cytoplasmic and nuclear expression in epithelium. (6) Meckel's cartilage shows strong nuclear expression but no expression in cartilage edges and osteogenic region. Periosteogenic region with moderate cytoplasmic and nuclear expression. Scale bars are 50µm. See FGF8 expression across all stages here.

IHH

IHH expression at HH42

IHH (red stain) shows almost no expression in mesenchyme of upper and lower jaw. (1) Nasal cartilage with medium cytoplasmic expression. (2) Weak cytoplasmic expression in osteogenic region with moderate expression in surrounding periosteogenic areas. (3) Nasal conchae and surrounding cartilage show strong cytoplasmic expression and weak cytoplasmic expression in adjacent mesenchyme. (4) Basihyal cartilage with moderate cytoplasmic expression, weak cytoplasmic expression in surrounding mesenchyme and strong expression in muscle tissue. (5) Paraglossal cartilage with strong cytoplasmic expression and weak expression in epithelium and perichondrogenic area. (6) Strong cytoplasmic expression in muscle and inner epithelium. Weak expression in dermal condensations, mesenchyme and outer epithelium. Scale bars are 50µm. See IHH expression across all stages here.

TGFβ2

TGFβ2 expression at HH42

TGFβ2 (brown stain) shows overall weak cytoplasmic expression with weak cytoplasmic and perinuclear expression in upper jaw tip. (1) Moderate cytoplasmic expression in epithelium surrounding nasal conchae. Weak cytoplasmic and perinuclear expression in adjacent cartilage. (2) Mesenchyme with weak cytoplasmic or cytoplasmic and perinuclear expression. Low expression in (3, 4) paraglossal cartilage, muscle and adjacent mesenchyme and epithelium. (4) Dermal condensations show no expression. (5) Meckel's cartilage and surrounding mesenchyme show weak cytoplasmic expression. Moderate cytoplasmic and nuclear expression in perichondrogenic area and strong expression in adjacent osteogenic region. Scale bars are 50µm. See TGFβ2 expression across all stages here.

WNT4

WNT4 expression at HH42

WNT4 (red stain) shows limited expression with no expression in mesenchyme. (1, 2) Nasal cartilage with moderate to strong cytoplasmic expression and (2) moderate expression in adjacent muscle. (3) Premaxillary cartilage with weak to no cytoplasmic expression and weak cytoplasmic expression in adjacent epithelium. Moderate cytoplasmic expression in (4) paraglossal and (6) Meckel's cartilage. (5) Muscle shows weak cytoplasmic expression. Scale bars are 50µm. See WNT4 expression across all stages here.