PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Chang, Wenhan
AU  - Tu, Chialing
AU  - Chen, Tsui-Hua
AU  - Bikle, Daniel
AU  - Shoback, Dolores
TI  - The Extracellular Calcium-Sensing Receptor (CaSR) Is a Critical Modulator of Skeletal Development
AID  - 10.1126/scisignal.1159945
DP  - 2008 Sep 02
TA  - Science Signaling
PG  - ra1--ra1
VI  - 1
IP  - 35
4099  - http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/1/35/ra1.short
4100  - http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/1/35/ra1.full
SO  - Sci. Signal.2008 Sep 02; 1
AB  - The extracellular Ca2+-sensing receptor (CaSR) plays a nonredundant role in the functions of the parathyroid gland (PTG) and the kidney. Severe hyperparathyroidism, premature death, and incomplete gene excision in Casr−/− mice have precluded the assessment of CaSR function in other tissues. We generated mice with tissue-specific deletion of Casr in the PTG, bone, or cartilage. Deletion of Casr in the PTG or bone resulted in profound bone defects, whereas deletion of Casr in chondrocytes (cartilage-producing cells) resulted in death before embryonic day 13 (E13). Mice in which chondrocyte-specific deletion of Casr was induced between E16 and E18 were viable but showed delayed growth plate development. Our data show a critical role for the CaSR in early embryogenesis and skeletal development.