Limb and bone structure of different <i>Lrp4</i> KI mutants.

Abstract

<p><b>A</b>: Illustration of the different Lrp4 protein products of all KI mutants. Panels are aligned to paw images in B and C to indicate genotypes. <b>B</b>: Ventral view of fore and hind limbs of <i>Lrp4</i> KI mutants. Homozygous mutant mice for each allelic variant (<i>KI/KI</i>) and compound mutant mice that carry one allelic variant and one KO allele (<i>KO/KI</i>) are shown. Note that there are strong defects in the limb pattering of <i>Lrp4</i>^{<i>ECD/ECD</i>}, intermediate defects in <i>Lrp4</i>^{<i>ΔICD/ΔIC</i>}, and only mild defects in <i>Lrp4</i>^{<i>LDLR-ICD/LDLR-ICD</i>} (red arrows). <b>C</b>: Ventral view of alizarin red (stains bones) and alcian blue (stains cartilage) of different <i>Lrp4</i> KI mutants. A WT-KI allele (2^nd panel in A and B) was generated to control for the lack of introns in the ICD-cassette in the other KI mutants. Black arrowheads: ectopic bone or bony fusion; red arrowheads: soft-tissue fusion. (modified from [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0116701#pone.0116701.ref022" target="_blank">22</a>]).</p