Faculty Research 1980 - 1989

Etiology of growth hormone deficiency in little, Ames, and Snell dwarf mice.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1983

Keywords

Female, Male, Mice, Mice-Mutant-Strains: ge, Microscopy-Electron, Nucleic-Acid-Precursors: an, Pituitary-Gland-Anterior: ul, RNA: an, RNA-Messenger: an, Somatotropin: ge, df, SUPPORT-U-S-GOVT-P-H-S

First Page

1669

Last Page

1678

JAX Source

Endocrinology. 1983 Nov; 113(5):1669-78.

Grant

HL26225, AM28246, AM17947, +

Abstract

There are three recessive genes (little, Snell, and Ames) which cause dwarfism and GH deficiency in mice. These genes are nonallelic, and in the case of little mice, GH deficiency is isolated, while Snell and Ames dwarfs have deficiencies of GH as well as other anterior pituitary hormones. Previous reports in which restriction endonuclease analyses were used suggested that the GH genes are grossly intact in each of these types of dwarfs. In this report, ultrastructural studies of the anterior pituitary glands of little mice showed a deficiency or absence of secretory granules within somatotropes, while Snell and Ames dwarf pituitaries lacked identifiable somatotropes. Furthermore, there were deficiencies of GH precursor RNA and mRNA in total RNA from little pituitaries, while GH transcripts appeared to be absent in total RNA from Snell or Ames dwarf pituitaries. Thus, the primary defect in little mice may be in the production of GH transcripts, while GH deficiency in Snell and Ames dwarfs is probably due to defects other than alterations of the GH genes.

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