Analysis of differential morphology of the anterior fontanelle in an embryonic avian model of induced thyrotoxicosis
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Lindsey Morais; Daron Weekly; Holly Racine
- Source
- Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science. 94
- Subject
- Language
- ISSN
- 2473-0386
0096-4263
Craniosynostosis (CS) occurs when the cranial sutures of the skull fuse prematurely, and this results in intracranial pressure during development and skull deformities. Maternal hyperthyroidism during embryonic development has been linked to the development of CS. Our lab is currently establishing a model of thyroxine-induced CS to study the mechanism involved in thyroxine-enhanced cranial ossification. Two groups of fertilized chicken eggs were injected with saline or 25 ng T4 into the air cell on embryonic days 11 and 15. Skulls from each group were collected on embryonic days 17 through 19 (n = 17-21 per day). They were fixed in formalin and processed using Alizarin Red whole-mount staining to image and quantify any morphological differences in the ossifying membrane of the anterior fontanelle between the treatment and control groups. We hypothesize that thyroxine exposure will alter skull morphology. Geometric morphometric analysis using MorphoJ was performed to identify shape variation between treatment groups of the fibrous space and ossifying region of the anterior fontanelle. Significance was determined by Procrustes ANOVA. Results demonstrated a significant variation in shape of the fibrous gap between developing sutures on embryonic days 17, 18 and 19 (p