%0 Journal Article
%T Congenic Mice Confirm That Collagen X Is Required for Proper Hematopoietic Development
%A Elizabeth Sweeney
%A Douglas Roberts
%A Tina Corbo
%A Olena Jacenko
%J PLOS ONE
%D 2012
%I Public Library of Science (PLoS)
%R 10.1371/journal.pone.0009518
%X The link between endochondral skeletal development and hematopoiesis in the marrow was established in the collagen X transgenic (Tg) and null (KO) mice. Disrupted function of collagen X, a major hypertrophic cartilage matrix protein, resulted in skeletal and hematopoietic defects in endochondrally derived tissues. Manifestation of the disease phenotype was variable, ranging from perinatal lethality in a subset of mice, to altered lymphopoiesis and impaired immunity in the surviving mice. To exclude contribution of strain specific modifiers to this variable manifestation of the skeleto-hematopoietic phenotype, C57Bl/6 and DBA/2J collagen X congenic lines were established. Comparable disease manifestations confirmed that the skeleto-hematopoietic alterations are an inherent outcome of disrupted collagen X function. Further, colony forming cell assays, complete blood count analysis, serum antibody ELISA, and organ outgrowth studies established altered lymphopoiesis in all collagen X Tg and KO mice and implicated opportunistic infection as a contributor to the severe disease phenotype. These data support a model where endochondral ossification-specific collagen X contributes to the establishment of a hematopoietic niche at the chondro-osseous junction.
%U http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0009518