MicroRNA Profiling during Craniofacial Development: Potential Roles for Mir23b and Mir133b

Defects in mid-facial development, including cleft lip/palate, account for a large number of human birth defects annually. In many cases, aberrant gene expression results in either a reduction in the number of neural crest cells (NCCs) that reach the frontonasal region and form much of the facial skeleton or subsequent failure of NCC patterning and differentiation into bone and cartilage. While loss of gene expression is often associated with...