Regulation of Mouse Lens Development and Gene Expression by Krüppel-Like Factor 4

Conditional disruption of Klf4 in the ectoderm-derived tissues of the eye results in defective cornea, conjunctiva and the lens. Expression of Klf4 is first detected in the embryonic day-12 (E12) mouse lens, peaks at E16, and declines thereafter. Lenses from Mice which were conditional null for Klf4 (Klf4CN) were characterized by morphology and transcriptome. Wild type and Klf4-conditional null mouse lens gene expression at embryonic day 16.5 (E16.5) and postnatal day 56 (PN56) was surveyed using Affymetrix mouse whole genome 430 2 arrays.

在眼部外胚层来源组织（ectoderm-derived tissues）中条件性敲除Krüppel样因子4 (Klf4)，可导致角膜（cornea）、结膜（conjunctiva）与晶状体（lens）出现发育缺陷。
Klf4的表达最早于胚胎第12天（embryonic day 12, E12）的小鼠晶状体中被检测到，在胚胎第16天（embryonic day 16, E16）达到表达峰值，此后逐渐下调。
本研究对Klf4条件性纯合敲除（Klf4CN）小鼠的晶状体进行了形态学与转录组学分析。
研究利用Affymetrix小鼠全基因组430 2.0芯片，检测了胚胎第16.5天（embryonic day 16.5, E16.5）及出生后第56天（postnatal day 56, PN56）的野生型与Klf4条件性敲除小鼠晶状体的基因表达谱。