Fig. 1. Generation of transgenic mice expressing the FGFR31^ach transgene in chondrocytes. (A) Map of the ColII-FGFR31^ach and ColII-FGFR3^ach transgene. The transgene expression vector contains the type II collagen promoter (ColII-pr), the ß-globin splice donor and acceptor (black line), the FGFR cDNA including the G380R transmembrane domain mutation, the hGH gene including polyadenylation sequences, and the enhancer sequences of the rat type II collagen gene (ColII-en). FGFR3 sequences are in green. FGFR1 intracellular domain sequences are in red. (B) Comparison of transgene expression patterns and levels by in situ hybridization using an antisense hGH riboprobe on E18.5 tissues. The transgene expression domains are consistent between ColII-FGFR31^ach and ColII-FGFR3^ach mice, which include resting (r) and proliferating (p) chondrocytes. Expression is excluded from hypertrophic (h) chondrocytes. (C) Alizarin Red-stained skeletons of 1 month old transgenic mice and wild-type littermates. The ColII-FGFR31^ach line 2 transgenic mice and ColII-FGFR3^ach transgenic mice show a similar degree of dwarfism.

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