A Comprehensive Study of Palate Development in Miniature Pig

Palate development is an important morphogenetic event in facial development, including the fusion of the lateral and medial nasal portions of the frontonasal process and maxilla. Derailments of any of these events may result in cleft palate, the most frequent congenital craniofacial abnormality. Recent research has shown that the microanatomy of the miniature pig oral maxillofacial region is quite similar to that of humans, and the use of miniature pigs as a large animal model for dental and orofacial research is increasing. Little information is available, however, about the development of the miniature pig palate. Here, using histological and ultrastructural methods, we describe the developmental stages of the palate in miniature pigs. Sections from E26, E30, E35, E40, E45, and E50 embryos were stained with hematoxylin–eosin, and selected specimens were also processed for electron microscopy. The development of the miniature pig palate can be divided into four stages: growth of the bilateral palatal shelves alongside the tongue at E30; elevation of the horizontal position above the tongue at E35; establishment of bilateral shelf contact at the midline from E35–50; and a final fusion step at E50, similar to the mouse and human. The histological characteristics of the miniature pig palate at different developmental stages were synchronously verified at the ultrastructural level. Our study provides a piece of first-hand data regarding palate morphological organogenesis in the miniature pig and a foundation for further research with this model to explore mechanisms of cleft palate development. Anat Rec, 300:1409–1419, 2017.