OSR2 antibody

Background of OSR2 antibody

Transcription factor Odd-skipped-1 and 2 (Osr-1 and Osr-2) are the only mammalian homolog of the Drosophila odd-skipped family developmental regulators. The Osr1 contains three Zn finger motifs whereas Osr-2 exist in two alternate spliced isoforms, containing three and five Zn-finger motifs. Targeted null mutations in Osr1 and Osr2 genes in mouse resulted in distinct phenotypes with heart and urogenital developmental defect in Osr1 mice and cleft palate and open eyelids at birth in Osr2(-/-)mice (1). In mammals the secondary palate arises by outgrowth form the oral side of the paired maxillary process flanking the primitive oral cavity. The palatal growth depends upon reciprocal interactions of oral ectoderm and underlying neural-crest-derived mesenchyme. The important epithelial signal for this regulation comes form sonic-hedgehog (Shh) which regulated the expression of transcription factors such as BMP2, BMP4, FgF10, Fox1a, oxf2, and Osr2 (2).
Teeth are vertebrate specific organs, beside variation in tooth number, size and shape many non mammalian vertebrates have multirowed teeth along the mesial to distal and labial to lingual directions whereas mammals develop teeth in single row. Osr2 and Msx1 genes play pivotal role in regulating the precise spatiotemporal patterns of sequential tooth development in vertebrates. Normal teeth development at day 21 shows two to three mineralized teeth, on contrast the Osr2 knocked down mice exhibited 4-5 mineralized teeth suggesting that odontogenic development is ectopically activated lingual to the molar teeth in Osr -/- mice (3). Along with Osr2, Msx1 is also involved in the activation of odontogenic potential, including Bmp4 expression in the mesenchyme (2). Mice lacking Msx1 exhibited loss of expression of Bmp4 in mesenchymal tissue and molar developmental arrest at the bud stage (2, 3). Bidirectional transcription leading to expression of antisense RNA led to imprinting and transcription inhibition. Msx1 gene function in craniofacial development and specially tooth development where it acts as transcriptional repressor, require antisense RNA regulation (4). In tooth development, the Msx1 is important for dental field determination and tooth morphogenesis, making Msx1 an exemplary model to analyze cell-cell communication leading to early determination of subsequent morphogenesis in mammals. Osr2 is a 276 amino acid protein (approximately 34kDa).