Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Even though the molecular events and pathways that underlie craniofacial
development and morphogenesis are not fully understood, it is accepted that their
orchestration is influenced by the interaction of genetic and environmental factors.
Inbred mouse strains represent genetically homogenous groups of individuals. It is
established that mice in one strain often differ quite remarkably from mice in other inbred
strains. Those phenotypic differences make mice exceptional tools for the dissection of
genetic factors that influence normal and abnormal craniofacial morphogenesis. While
numerous investigations have focused on abnormal morphogenesis, a comprehensive
study of normal craniometric morphology across multiple inbred strains of mice has not
been previously performed. The Mouse Phenome Project, an international collaboration
of investigators, was formed to systematically phenotype a collection of normal inbred
mouse strains. The objectives of our studies were to determine and measure differences in quantitative mandibular traits/variables within and between different inbred mouse
strains, and to assess sexual di1norphism through bilateral measuren1ents of the
hemimandibles. These studies were a component of the Mouse Phenome Project to
collect normal craniometric data from 12 genetically heterogeneous inbred strains
utilizing digital images from equal numbers of female and male mice at 7 to 8 weeks of age.
Our central hypothesis was that morphometric analysis of mandibular structures
from genetically disparate inbred mouse strains would reveal quantifiable differences.
The null hypothesis of no difference among the strains for 1nandibular measurements was
rejected. Overall, CAST/Ei and MOLF/Ei were consistently small in size measured by
body weight with small skeletal structures. There was no strong pattern of body weight
and site of skeletal size in the mid and heavy weighted strains. Evidence of sexual
dimorphism was supported. Overall, it appears males and females that have the least
significance between them are in the DBA/2J strain, followed by A/J. The strain with the
most significant difference between males and females is in the C3H/HeJ strain.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:IUPUI/oai:scholarworks.iupui.edu:1805/4146 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Edwards, Michelle Halum |
| Contributors | Everett, Eric T., Hartsfield, James K., Jr., Jamison, Paul L., Ward, Richard E., Dean, Jeffrey A. |
| Source Sets | Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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