UNSW Embryology

Head and Neck Development - Tongue

© Dr Mark Hill (2010)

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The tongue's embryonic orgin is derived from all pharyngeal arches contributing different components. As the tongue develops "inside" the floor of the oral cavity, it is not readily visible in the external views of the embryonic (Carnegie) stages of development. Tongue muscle cells originate from somites, while muscles of mastication derive from the unsegmented somitomeres. This current page gives a brief overview of early tongue development.

These notes cover development of the muscular tongue, not the sense of taste. (More? Sensory Development - Taste)

Page Links: Introduction | Some Recent Findings | Overview Tongue Development | Images of Tongue Development | | Tongue Muscle | References | Search Pubmed | Glossary | Terms

Some Recent Findings

Yamane A. Embryonic and postnatal development of masticatory and tongue muscles.

"Tongue myogenesis follows a similar regulatory program to that for limb myogenesis. Myogenesis and synaptogenesis in the masticatory muscles are delayed in comparison with other muscles and are not complete even at birth, whereas the development of tongue muscles proceeds faster than those of other muscles and ends at around birth. The regulatory programs for masticatory and tongue myogenesis seem to depend on the developmental origins of the muscles, i.e., the origin being either a somite or somitomere, whereas myogenesis and synaptogenesis seem to progress to serve the functional requirements of the masticatory and tongue muscles."

Overview Development of the Tongue

The tongue has contributions from all pharyngeal arches which changes with time. The tongue initially begins as swelling rostral to foramen cecum, the median tongue bud.

Pharyngeal Arch Contributions

Arch 1 - oral part of tongue (anterior 3/2)

Arch 2 - initial contribution to surface is lost

Arch 3 - pharyngeal part of tongue (posterior 1/3)

Arch 4 - epiglottis and adjacent regions

Images of Tongue Development

These 3 drawings are viewed from inside the pharynx looking at the floor of the pharynx.

Mesodermal swellings in pharynx floor are covered with endoderm.

Foramen caecum is the site of initial thyroid cell descent into the hypopharyngeal eminence.

Lateral lingual swellings have fused and overgrown medial and 2nd arch components.

In the midline on the surface is a depression called the median sulcus.

Oral part is anterior 2/3

Pharyngeal part is posterior 1/3

Circumvillate papilla lie just anterior to terminal sulcus.

(Modified from Kaufman and Bard, 1999)

Tongue Muscle

Developing oral cavity and tongue

Tongue muscles originate from the somites. Tongue muscles develop before masticatory muscles and is completed by birth.

Masticatory muscles (MM) originate from the somitomeres. These muscles develop late and are not complete even at birth.

Developing muscle fibers within the tongue. Note the multinucleated appearance of each muscle fiber and their overall organization. Muscle goes through the same developmental changes as other skeletal muscle.

See also reference: Yamane A. Embryonic and postnatal development of masticatory and tongue muscles. Cell Tissue Res. 2005 Jul 23;:1-7

References

Reviews

Yamane A. Embryonic and postnatal development of masticatory and tongue muscles. Cell Tissue Res. 2005 Jul 23;:1-7

Articles

Liu HX, Maccallum DK, Edwards C, Gaffield W, Mistretta CM. Sonic hedgehog exerts distinct, stage-specific effects on tongue and taste papilla development. Dev Biol. 2004 Dec 15;276(2):280-300.

Nagata J, Yamane A. Progress of cell proliferation in striated muscle tissues during development of the mouse tongue. J Dent Res. 2004 Dec;83(12):926-9.

Jonker L, Kist R, Aw A, Wappler I, Peters H. Pax9 is required for filiform papilla development and suppresses skin-specific differentiation of the mammalian tongue epithelium. Mech Dev. 2004 Nov;121(11):1313-22.

Tamatsu Y, Gasser RF. Development of the sensory nerves to the dorsum of the tongue in staged human embryos. Clin Anat. 2004 Mar;17(2):99-106.

Mbiene JP, Roberts JD. Distribution of keratin 8-containing cell clusters in mouse embryonic tongue: evidence for a prepattern for taste bud development. J Comp Neurol. 2003 Mar 3;457(2):111-22.

Temple EC, Hutchinson I, Laing DG, Jinks AL. Taste development: differential growth rates of tongue regions in humans. Brain Res Dev Brain Res. 2002 Apr 30;135(1-2):65-70.

Search Pubmed Now: tongue+development

UNSW Histology Slides

This section being updated to Virtual Microscope slides.

Glossary of Terms

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Numbers | Old Glossary

Development Terms

• anlage- (Ger. ) primordium, structure or cells which will form a future structure.
• buccopharyngeal membrane- (=oral membrane) at cranial (mouth) end of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) where surface ectoderm and GIT endoderm meet.

Quick Links

Head and Neck Pages:

| References | | OMIM | Questions | Medline | Pig Stage 13/14 | Human (Stage22) | Human (stage 22) | Selected Human (stage 22) | Text only page | WWW Links

Development Notes ----------------- Menstrual Cycle Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Placenta Serial Images Genes/DNA Molecular Dev Abnormal Dev Postnatal Dev Notes Index

System Notes ----------------- Heart/Cardiovascular Respiratory Coelomic cavity Gastrointestinal Tract Head and Neck Neural Neural Crest Eye Ear Nose Endocrine Urogenital Musculoskeletal Integumentary

Movies ----------------- Embryo Growth Ultrasound Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Stage 13/14 Stage 22 Neural Head and Neck Heart Vasculature Gastrointestinal Urogenital Other Embryos Larsen Internet

Other Embryos ----------------- Chicken Fly Frog Mouse Rabbit Rat Worm Zebrafish Guinea Pig

UNSW Embryology ISBN: 978 0 7334 2609 4

UNSW CRICOS Provider Code No. 00098G