Description
The overall goal of this project is to investigate the role of Erk2-mediated signaling in regulating the cellular metabolism of cranial neural crest (CNC) cells during palate development. Here, we conducted gene expression profiling of palate tissue from wild type mice as well as those with a neural crest specific conditional inactivation of the Erk2 gene. The latter mice exhibit micrognathia, tongue defects and cleft palate, which is among the most common congenital birth defects and observed in many syndromic conditions.