Dynamic expression of TSC-22 at sites of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions during mouse development

The leucine zipper transcription factor TSC-22 (TGF-beta1 Stimulated Clone-22) was first isolated from a mouse osteoblast cell line as an immediate-early target gene of TGF-beta1. However, work with other cell lines, as well as with a Drosophila homolog, bunched, suggests that it is an effector gene of various growth factors and potentially involved in the integration of multiple extracellular signals. Throughout mouse embryogenesis TSC-22 is expressed in a dynamic pattern. Although early TSC-22 expression is ubiquitous in 6.5 day embryos, as development proceeds TSC-22 expression is upregulated at sites of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions such as the limb bud, tooth primordiurn, hair follicle, kidney, lung, and pancreas. TSC-22 is also expressed in many neural crest-derived tissues including the mesenchyme of the branchial arches, the cranial, dorsal root, and sympathetic ganglia, as well as the facial cartilage and bone. Other areas of expression are the otic and optic vesicles, the heart, and cartilage and bone forming regions throughout the embryo.