Endothelial cell specification in the somite is compromised in Pax3-positive progenitors of Foxc1/2 conditional mutants, with loss of forelimb myogenesis.

Pax3 and Foxc2 have been shown genetically to mutually repress each other in the mouse somite. Perturbation of this balance in multipotent cells of the dermomyotome influences cell fate; upregulation of Foxc2 favours a vascular fate, whereas higher levels of Pax3 lead to myogenesis. Foxc1 has overlapping functions with Foxc2.