The neural crest are bilaterally paired strips of cells arising in the ectoderm at the margins of the neural tube. These cells migrate to many different locations and differentiate into many cell types within the embryo. General neural development is also covered in Neural Notes.
Beside the spinal cord neural crest cells form the sensory ganglia (dorsal root ganglia). In the head region neural crest cells migrate into the pharyngeal arches (as shown in movie below) and form many different structures.
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Ota KG, Kuraku S, Kuratani S. Hagfish embryology with reference to the evolution of the neural crest. Nature. 2007 April 5;446:672-5.
"We propose that the neural crest emerged as a population of de-epithelialized migratory cells in a common vertebrate ancestor, and suggest that the possibility of classical and molecular embryology in hagfish opens up new approaches to clarifying the evolutionary history of vertebrates."
Brito JM, Teillet MA, Le Douarin NM. An early role for Sonic hedgehog from foregut endoderm in jaw development: Ensuring neural crest cell survival. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Aug 1;103(31):11607-12. Epub 2006 Jul 25. Hou L, Arnheiter H, Pavan WJ. Interspecies difference in the regulation of melanocyte development by SOX10 and MITF. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 103: 9081-9085
"The results may help to explain how some embryos, such as zebrafish, can achieve rapid pigmentation after fertilization, whereas others, such as mice, become pigmented only several days after birth."
Embryo Images Unit:
(More? Research Labs)
Human Neuralation | Neural Derivatives | Neural Genes | Neural Patterning
From: Neurulation in the normal human embryo. O'Rahilly R, Muller F Ciba Found Symp 1994;181:70-82
Early Development and Neural Derivatives
Developmental Overview
Neural Crest Origin
Neural Crest Origin
Neural Crest- Generation 1
Neural Crest- Generation 2
Neural Crest Derivatives
Neural Crest-Differentiation
Neural Crest-Head (see also Head Development Notes)
mesencephalon and caudal proencephalon
Neural Crest-Head
mesencephalon and rhombencephalon
Neural Crest-Head
rhombencephalon
Neural Crest- Spinal Cord
See also Neural Crest Migration and Neural Movies.
LeDouarin 80's Development of the peripheral Nervous system from the neural crest, Ann Rev Cell Biol 4 p375
transplantation experiments in chicken/quail
nucleoli to differentiate different species
can follow path of migration of transplanted cells
now molecularly tag neural crest cells (LacZ)
Links: Journals | Online Textbooks | Search Textbooks | PubMed | 1999 Refs | Search PubMed | Glossary
Search NLM Online Textbooks "neural crest" : Endocrinology | Molecular Biology of the Cell | The Cell- A molecular Approach
Reviews
Anderson RB, Newgreen DF, Young HM Neural crest and the development of the enteric nervous system. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2006;589:181-96.
Huang R, Christ B, Patel K. Regulation of scapula development. Anat Embryol (Berl). 2006 Dec;211 Suppl 1:65-71.
Huber K. The sympathoadrenal cell lineage: specification, diversification, and new perspectives. Dev Biol. 2006 Oct 15;298(2):335-43.
Crane JF, Trainor PA. Neural crest stem and progenitor cells. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 2006;22:267-86.
Articles
Ota KG, Kuraku S, Kuratani S. Hagfish embryology with reference to the evolution of the neural crest. Nature. 2007 April 5;446:672-5. Boulais N, Misery L. Merkel cells. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2007 Apr 3 High FA, Zhang M, Proweller A, Tu L, Parmacek MS, Pear WS, Epstein JA. An essential role for Notch in neural crest during cardiovascular development and smooth muscle differentiation. J Clin Invest. 2007 Feb;117(2):353-63.
Brito JM, Teillet MA, Le Douarin NM. An early role for Sonic hedgehog from foregut endoderm in jaw development: Ensuring neural crest cell survival. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Aug 1;103(31):11607-12. Epub 2006 Jul 25. Hou L, Arnheiter H, Pavan WJ. Interspecies difference in the regulation of melanocyte development by SOX10 and MITF. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 103: 9081-9085
Search Mar 2007 "neural crest development" 3,394 reference articles of which 692 were reviews. (More? Neural Crest Reviews References 1998)
Search PubMed: term = neural crest development |
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Notes under development (notice removed when complete)
Neural crest cells contribute to many different tissues and systems throughout the entire embryo.
While the cells originate from the ectoderm layer, unlike the neural tube which "pinches off" from the surface ectoderm, the neural crest cells head off on migrations throughout the embryo forming a diverse range of cell types and contributions to different tissues.
This behaviour also means that failure of correct migration or differentiation can lead to a number of different abnormalities.
Please email Dr Mark Hill if you wish to make a comment about this current project.
These selected articles (April 2005) updated when time permits.
Mechanisms and perspectives on differentiation of autonomic neurons. Howard MJ., Dev Biol. 2005 Jan 15;277(2):271-86. Review. "Core of DNA binding proteins required for the development of sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric neurons, including Phox2 and MASH1, whose specificity is regulated by the recruitment of additional transcriptional regulators in a subtype-specific manner. For noradrenergic neurons, the basic helix-loop-helix DNA binding protein HAND2 (dHAND) appears to serve this function."
Role of keratinocyte-derived factors involved in regulating the proliferation and differentiation of mammalian epidermal melanocytes. Hirobe T., Pigment Cell Res. 2005 Feb;18(1):2-12. Review. "Recent advances in the techniques of tissue culture and biochemistry have enabled us to clarify factors derived from keratinocytes. Alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, adrenocorticotrophic hormone, basic fibroblast growth factor, nerve growth factor, endothelins, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, steel factor, leukemia inhibitory factor and hepatocyte growth factor have been suggested to be the keratinocyte-derived factors and to regulate the proliferation and/or differentiation of mammalian epidermal melanocytes."
Fgf15 is required for proper morphogenesis of the mouse cardiac outflow tract. Vincentz JW, McWhirter JR, Murre C, Baldini A, Furuta Y., Genesis. 2005 Apr;41(4):192-201. "Tbx1, a key regulator of pharyngeal arch development implicated in DiGeorge syndrome. In addition, Fgf15 and Tbx1 do not interact genetically, suggesting that Fgf15 operates through a pathway independent of Tbx1."
Xenopus Id3 is required downstream of Myc for the formation of multipotent neural crest progenitor cells. Light W, Vernon AE, Lasorella A, Iavarone A, Labonne C., Development. 2005 Apr;132(8):1831-1841. Fgf15 is required for proper morphogenesis of the mouse cardiac outflow tract. "show that the small HLH protein Id3 is a Myc target that plays an essential role in the formation and maintenance of neural crest stem cells."