Skeletal Development - Investigating skeletal development in the mouse

This practical course gives an introduction into the methods and technology used to investigate skeletal and muscle development in the mouse. The skeleton evolves from mesenchymal cells which differentiate into bone forming osteoblasts and cartilage forming chondrocytes. Through a complex genetic program these cells eventually form the mature bone, keep this tissue in homeostasis and provide a cellular resource for healing. Muscles on the other hand form from progenitors arising in the somites, which reach their final destionations via a migration process. During muscle formation a subpopulation of myogenic cells is arrested in the undifferentiatied state and serves as stem cells (so-called satellite cells) for regenerative processes in the adult. In this course, the participants will be able to investigate gene and protein expression during skeletogenesis and myogenesis in the mouse and to analyze skeletal malformations in mouse models for human skeletal disease. This course is aimed at providing a basic understanding for the genetic mechanisms that govern musculoskeletal patterning and differentiation during embryogenesis and to provide knowledge on how to analyze musculoskeletal phenotypes in animal models.

Course Materials and Techniques

The onset of skeletal and myogenic development in the embryo will be analyzed by RNA in-situ hybridisation, the formation of muscles and muscle stem cells will be analized by immunostaining on tissue sections. The differentiation of cartilage and bone will be analyzed by histology of embryonic tissue sections. The patterning and morphogenesis of the skeleton will be analyzed in wild type and mutant mice by whole mount skeletal staining.