TGFβ signaling, proliferation, and apoptosis during palate formation in <i>Ceacam1</i>^−/− mice.

<p>At E15.5, palatal fusion was well under way in the wild-type embryo (+/+) (A, C, E, G). <i>Ceacam1</i>^−/− embryos (−/−) showed residual epithelial islands (B, D, F, H), similar to <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0061653#pone-0061653-g004" target="_blank">Figure 4</a>. <i>Ceacam1</i>^−/− MEE cells show positive Ki67 and TUNEL staining, markers for cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively, from the anterior to the posterior part of the palate, and they express TGFβ3 at levels similar to the wild-type MEE cells. Expression levels were statistically analyzed (I, J, K); Ki67, 28.8±0.3 (+/+) (%), 30.6±2.4 (−/−) (%) (I); TUNEL, 5.0±1.4 (+/+) (%), 4.9±1.3 (−/−) (%) (J); TGFβ3, 86.9±3.7 (+/+) (%), 84.6±0.6 (−/−) (%) (K). Bars indicate s.e.m.; P = 0.52 (I), 0.50 (J), 0.50 (K), in <i>Ceacam1</i>^−/− palates compared to wild-type (+/+).