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The Mutation of the Ap3b1 Gene Causes Uterine Hypoplasia in Pearl Mice

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A Correction to this article was published on 01 January 2020

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Abstract

The pearl (pe) mouse mutant has been identified as a model for Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome and bears a mutation in the beta3A subunit of the AP-3 complex, which has a core function in the biogenesis and function of various lysosomal-related organelles. Through large-scale mating, we found that female pearl mice also displayed reduced fertility with a smaller litter size. Abnormal uteri in both 1-month-old and 3-month-old mice were observed as having short and thin uterine horns, indicating abnormal development. Histological studies revealed that the endometrial epithelium and endometrial stoma of the uterus were both thinner than those in the normal controls. We examined some key factors in uterine development, including the Hoxa10, Hoxa11, and Wnt5a genes, and found that they all presented lower mRNA and protein levels. The pearl mouse could serve as a model for uterine hypoplasia, a common problem in female infertility.

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  • 03 February 2020

    The authors are deeply sorry that, due to an unintentional mistake, the proof-editing procedure was skipped. A major mistake must be corrected: Fig. 2C contains pictures from a mislabeled folder and should be replaced as shown in the updated Fig. 2 below.

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Acknowledgements

We greatly appreciate Drs. Richard Swank and Edward Novak for the HPS mice.

Funding

This study was supported by general programs from the Natural Science Foundation of China (31171446, 81501531, 30971659, and 90608001) and key program from the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Z2008C07) to Dr. Lijun Feng.

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Author notes

  1. Renwei Jing, Yu Kong and Gang Han contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Basic Medical College, Tianjin Medical University, Qixiangtai Road, Heping District, 300070, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China

    Renwei Jing & Yu Kong

  2. Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Cells and Developmental Biology, Institute of Developmental Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, 250100, Jinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

    Renwei Jing, Yu Kong, Jingye Zhang, Kailin Li, Xuan Dong, Jie Yan & Lijun Feng

  3. School of Medical Laboratory, Tianjin Medical University, 300203, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China

    Gang Han

  4. Department of Bioengineering, Shandong Polytechnic, 250014, Jinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

    Haiqing Zhang

  5. Department of Nephrology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, 324 Jingwu Street, Jinan, 250021, China

    Jia Han

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  1. Renwei Jing
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  2. Yu Kong
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Correspondence to Jia Han or Lijun Feng.

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Jing, R., Kong, Y., Han, G. et al. The Mutation of the Ap3b1 Gene Causes Uterine Hypoplasia in Pearl Mice. Reprod. Sci. 27, 182–191 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-019-00006-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-019-00006-7

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