Chapter category: Development
Molecular Bases of Human Neurocristopathies
Neural Crest Induction
and Differentiation
Edited by: Jean-Pierre Saint-JeannetISBN: 0-387-35136-1
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Chapter authors:
Heather C. Etchevers,* Jeanne Amiel and Stanislas Lyonnet
Neural crest cells (NCC) form in the human embryo during the third to fifth weeks of pregnancy, within the neural folds that delineate the neural plate from the ectoderm. During the fusion of the neural folds, which ultimately yields a tube that will become the central nervous system (CNS), NCC detach and become mesenchymal. They migrate throughout the body, integrating nearly every organ. NCC derivatives include the neurons and support cells of the entire peripheral nervous system (sensory and autonomic), adrenergic and other endocrine cells, and all pigment cells except those arising from the retina (reviewed by Le Douarin and Kalcheim1). In the head, in addition to the cell types mentioned above, NCC differentiate into connective and structural tissues such as dermis,2,3 bones and cartilage of most of the skull3,4 and muscle tendons.5,6 They also infiltrate and are essential for the function of glandular and vascular elements such as the thymus, the thyroid and parathyroid glands, the conotruncal region of the heart and the entire branchial vascular sector,7-9 giving rise to connective, adipose and smooth muscle cells. The astonishing diversity of NCC derivatives has led to this population being nicknamed the “fourth embryonic germ layer.” The fact that NCC were known to exist only in the embryo precluded their being perceived as a true stem cell type. Recently, however, it was demonstrated that the enteric nervous system of the adult rat contains neural crest stem cells that self-renew and remain oligopotent.10 Avian melanocytes are able to transdifferentiate into glial cells, neurons or smooth muscle-like cells in vitro, also implying the long-term existence of multipotent progenitors.11 It is thought that NCC derivatives are generated through progressive restriction of developmental potential.12,13
Additional chapters from this book:
Neural Crest Cells and the Community of Plan for Craniofacial Development: Historical Debates and Current Perspectives
Drew M. Noden and Richard A. Schneider
After their initial discovery in the mid 1800s, neural crest cells transitioned from the category of renegade intra-embryonic wanderers to achieve rebel status, provoked espe- cially by the outra...
The Contribution of the Neural Crest to the Vertebrate Body
Elisabeth Dupin, Sophie Creuzet and Nicole M. Le Douarin
As a transitory structure providing adult tissues of the vertebrates with very diverse cell types, the neural crest (NC) has attracted for long the interest of developmental biologists and i...
Neural Crest and the Development of the Enteric Nervous System
R.B. Anderson, D.F. Newgreen and H.M. Young
The formation of the enteric nervous system (ENS) is a particularly interesting example of the migratory ability of the neural crest, and of the complexity of structures to which neural crest cells ...
Molecular Bases of Human Neurocristopathies
Heather C. Etchevers,* Jeanne Amiel and Stanislas Lyonnet
Neural crest cells (NCC) form in the human embryo during the third to fifth weeks of pregnancy, within the neural folds that delineate the neural plate from the ectoderm. During the fusion of the ...
Neural Crest Stem Cells
Lu Teng and Patricia A. Labosky*
Stem cells are defined by their ability to both self-renew and give rise to multiple lineages in vivo and/or in vitro. As discussed in other chapters in this volume, the embryonic neural crest i...
Neural Crest Cell Plasticity: Size Matters
Lisa L. Sandell and Paul A. Trainor
Patterning and morphogenesis of neural crest-derived tissues within a developing vertebrate embryo rely on a complex balance between signals acquired by neural crest cells in the neuroepithelium durin...
Neural Crest Delamination and Migration: Integrating Regulations of Cell Interactions, Locomotion, Survival and Fate
Jean-Loup Duband
During the entire process of neural crest development from specification till final differentiation, delamination and migration are critical steps where nascent crest cells face multiple challenges:...
Cranial Neural Crest and Development of the Head Skeleton
Robert D. Knight and Thomas F. Schilling
The skeletal derivatives of the cranial neural crest (CNC) are patterned through a combination of intrinsic differences between crest cells and extrinsic signals from adjacent tissues, including endod...
Evolution of the Neural Crest
Alejandro Barrallo-Gimeno and M. Angela Nieto
The recent advances in studies of the neural crest in vertebrates, and the analysis of basal hordates using molecular and embryological approaches, have demonstrated that at least part of the genetic ...
Neural Crest Contribution to the Cardiovascular System
Christopher B. Brown and H. Scott Baldwin
Normal cardiovascular development requires complex remodeling of the outflow tract and pharyngeal arch arteries to create the separate pulmonic and systemic circulations. During remodeling, the outflo...
Transcriptional Regulation at the Neural Plate Border
Thomas D. Sargent
The neural crest (NC) is usually defined as a cell type arising at the border of the neural plate and the epidermis in vertebrate embryos. While accurate, this definition implies that the border exist...
The Genetic Regulation of Pigment Cell Development
Debra L. Silver, Ling Hou and William J. Pavan
Pigment cells in developing vertebrates are derived from a transient and pluripotent population of cells called neural crest. The neural crest delaminates from the developing neural tube and overlying...
Growth Factors Regulating Neural Crest Cell Fate Decisions
Lukas Sommer*
CHAPTER 12 *Corresponding Author: Lukas Sommer—Institute of Cell Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH-Hoenggerberg, Zürich, Switzerland, Email: lukas.sommer@cell.biol.ethz.ch Neur...
Specification of Sensory Neuron Cell Fate from the Neural Crest
David W. Raible* and Josette M. Ungos
How distinct cell fates are generated from initially homogeneous cell populations is a driving question in developmental biology. The neural crest is one such cell population that is capable of prod...
Neural Crest Inducing Signals
Martin L. Basch and Marianne Bronner-Fraser
The formation of the neural crest has been traditionally considered a classic example of secondary induction, where signals form one tissue elicit a response in a competent responding tissue. Intera...
