Cellular and genetic mechanisms that shape the development and evolution of tail vertebral proportion in mice and jerboas

Ceri J. Weber (), Alexander J. Weitzel, Alexander Y. Liu, Erica G. Gacasan, Susan C. Chapman, Robert L. Sah and Kimberly L. Cooper ()
Additional contact information
Ceri J. Weber: University of California San Diego
Alexander J. Weitzel: University of California San Diego
Alexander Y. Liu: University of California San Diego
Erica G. Gacasan: University of California San Diego
Susan C. Chapman: Clemson University
Robert L. Sah: University of California San Diego
Kimberly L. Cooper: University of California San Diego

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract Limbs and vertebrae elongate by endochondral ossification, but local growth control is highly modular such that not all bones are the same length. Compared to limbs, which have a different evolutionary and developmental origin, far less is known about how individual vertebrae establish proportion. Using the jerboa and mouse tail skeletons, we find that cell number is a common driver of limb and vertebral proportion in both species. However, chondrocyte hypertrophy, which is a major driver of proportion in all mammal limbs, is limited to the extreme disproportionate growth of jerboa mid-tail vertebrae. The genes associated with differential growth in the vertebral skeleton overlap significantly, but not substantially, with genes associated with limb proportion. Among shared candidates, loss of Natriuretic Peptide Receptor 3 in mice causes disproportionate elongation of the proximal and mid-tail vertebrae, in addition to the proximal limb. Our findings therefore, reveal cellular processes that tune the growth of individual vertebrae while also identifying natriuretic peptide signaling among genetic control mechanisms that shape the entire skeleton.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63606-9 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-63606-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63606-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().