Expression data from Hand2 mutant mouse embryos

Acquisition of the lower jaw (mandible) was evolutionarily important for jawed vertebrates. In humans, syndromic craniofacial malformations often accompany jaw anomalies. Hand2 is involved in coordinating the developmental network of mandibles and the oral apparatus through Hand2-downstream genes and is therefore a major determinant of jaw identity.

4

Funato N, Kokubo H, Nakamura M, Yanagisawa H, Saga Y