... have strong regenerative capacities, and also produced germline mutants. We show that Hox13 genes are essential for digit formation in development, as in mice. In addition, Hoxa13 has a predominant role in digit formation, unlike in mice. The predominance is probably due to the restricted expression...

...Yuting Chen; Vladimir Knezevic; Valerie Ervin; Richard Hutson; Yvona Ward; Susan Mackem Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling regulates both digit number and identity,but how different distinct digit types (identities) are specified remains unclear. Shh regulates digit formation largely by preventing...

.... Expansion of BmprIB expression into the limb through acquisition of these distal cis -regulatory sequences appears, therefore, to be an important genetic component driving morphological diversity in distal extremities. GDF5 is a BMP-related signal, which is also required for proper digit formation. Analyses...