Abstract
Signaling pathways have been shown to participate in the process of Retinoic acid (RA) - induced cleft palate (CP). In our current study, the signaling molecules of GSK-3β, Fzd3 and β-TrCP, which all relate with Wnt pathway, were screened from the palate tissues of the RA-induced CP in mice by the Gene-chip Technology. But, their expression pattern and level in palates during perinatal stages have not been known yet. In the studies, mRNA level of GSK-3β, Fzd3 and β-TrCP were detected by quantitative real-time PCR, and showed significant difference between the Embryonic day 18 (ED18) before birth and Postnatal day 0 (PD0) after birth, as well as between the RA-induced CP and wild type during the perinatal stage, respectively. And the localization pattern of GSK-3β, Fzd3 and β-TrCP proteins in palates was also characterized. Our data indicates that the Wnt signaling pathway may involve in the RA-induced cleft palate during peirnatal stage.
