Participation of neural crest-derived cells in the genesis of the skull in birds

Development ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-37
Author(s):  
Christiane S. Le Lièvre
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Neural Crest Cells ◽  
Frontal Bone ◽  
Skeletal Tissue ◽  
Nasal Process ◽  
Branchial Arches ◽  
Mesodermal Origin ◽  
Mixed Origin ◽  
Dual Origin

The differentiation of cephalic neural crest cells into skeletal tissue in birds has been observed using the quail —chick nuclear marking system, which is based on specific differences in the distribution of the nuclear DNA. Chimaeras were formed by replacing a fragment of cephalic neural primordium of a 2- to 12-somite chicken embryo by the corresponding fragment isolated from an equivalent quail embryo. The participation of the graft-derived cells in the formation of the skull of these embryos was studied on histological sections after Feulgen and Rossenbeck staining. Cells from the pirosencephalic neural crest migrate into the frontal nasal process and mix with the mesencephalic neural crest cells in the lateral nasal processes, around the optic cupule and beneath the diencephalon. In addition, the mesencephalic neural crest cells form the bulk of the mesenchyme of the maxillary processes and mandibular arch, whereas the rhombencephalic neural crest cells become located in the branchial arches. The origin of cartilages of the chondrocranium and bones of the neurocranium and viscerocranium has been shown in the chimaeric embryos: the basal plate cartilages, occipital bones, sphenoid bones and the cranial vault are mainly of mesodermal origin. However some parts have a dual origin: rhombo-mesencephalic neural crest cells are found in the otic capsule, and the frontal bone, the rostrum of parasphenoid and the orbital cartilages contain diverse amounts of prosencephalo-mesencephalic neural crest cells. The squamosals and the columella auris are formed from mesectodermic cells as are the nasal skeleton, the palatines and the maxillar bones. The mesectodermal origin of mandibular and hyoid bones and cartilages was already known. From these results it appears that the cephalic neural crest is particularly important in the formation of the facial part of the skull, while the vault and dorsal part are mesodermal and cartilages and bones found in the intermediary region are of mixed origin. The presence of mixed structures implies that the mesoderm and the mesectoderm are equally competent towards the specific inducers of these bones and cartilages. This correlates with the equivalence in differentiation capacities already shown for cephalic mesodeimal and mesectodermal mesenchymes.

Jaw and branchial arch mutants in zebrafish I: branchial arches

Development ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 329-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.F. Schilling ◽  
T. Piotrowski ◽  
H. Grandel ◽  
M. Brand ◽  
C.P. Heisenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Zebrafish Embryo ◽  
Neural Crest Cells ◽  
Branchial Arch ◽  
Pigment Cells ◽  
Pharyngeal Arches ◽  
Pectoral Fins ◽  
Branchial Arches ◽  
Group Members ◽  
The Brain

Jaws and branchial arches together are a basic, segmented feature of the vertebrate head. Seven arches develop in the zebrafish embryo (Danio rerio), derived largely from neural crest cells that form the cartilaginous skeleton. In this and the following paper we describe the phenotypes of 109 arch mutants, focusing here on three classes that affect the posterior pharyngeal arches, including the hyoid and five gill-bearing arches. In lockjaw, the hyoid arch is strongly reduced and subsets of branchial arches do not develop. Mutants of a large second class, designated the flathead group, lack several adjacent branchial arches and their associated cartilages. Five alleles at the flathead locus all lead to larvae that lack arches 4–6. Among 34 other flathead group members complementation tests are incomplete, but at least six unique phenotypes can be distinguished. These all delete continuous stretches of adjacent branchial arches and unpaired cartilages in the ventral midline. Many show cell death in the midbrain, from which some neural crest precursors of the arches originate. lockjaw and a few mutants in the flathead group, including pistachio, affect both jaw cartilage and pigmentation, reflecting essential functions of these genes in at least two neural crest lineages. Mutants of a third class, including boxer, dackel and pincher, affect pectoral fins and axonal trajectories in the brain, as well as the arches. Their skeletal phenotypes suggest that they disrupt cartilage morphogenesis in all arches. Our results suggest that there are sets of genes that: (1) specify neural crest cells in groups of adjacent head segments, and (2) function in common genetic pathways in a variety of tissues including the brain, pectoral fins and pigment cells as well as pharyngeal arches.

Pax3 is required for cardiac neural crest migration in the mouse: evidence from the splotch (Sp2H) mutant

Development ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 505-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.J. Conway ◽  
D.J. Henderson ◽  
A.J. Copp
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Neural Tube ◽  
Neural Crest Cells ◽  
Outflow Tract ◽  
Avian Embryo ◽  
Cardiac Neural Crest ◽  
Branchial Arches ◽  
Aortic Arches ◽  
Cardiac Outflow

Neural crest cells originating in the occipital region of the avian embryo are known to play a vital role in formation of the septum of the cardiac outflow tract and to contribute cells to the aortic arches, thymus, thyroid and parathyroids. This ‘cardiac’ neural crest sub-population is assumed to exist in mammals, but without direct evidence. In this paper we demonstrate, using RT-PCR and in situ hybridisation, that Pax3 expression can serve as a marker of cardiac neural crest cells in the mouse embryo. Cells of this lineage were traced from the occipital neural tube, via branchial arches 3, 4 and 6, into the aortic sac and aorto-pulmonary outflow tract. Confirmation that these Pax3-positive cells are indeed cardiac neural crest is provided by experiments in which hearts were deprived of a source of colonising neural crest, by organ culture in vitro, with consequent lack of up-regulation of Pax3. Occipital neural crest cell outgrowths in vitro were also shown to express Pax3. Mutation of Pax3, as occurs in the splotch (Sp2H) mouse, results in development of conotruncal heart defects including persistent truncus arteriosus. Homozygotes also exhibit defects of the aortic arches, thymus, thyroid and parathyroids. Pax3-positive neural crest cells were found to emigrate from the occipital neural tube of Sp2H/Sp2H embryos in a relatively normal fashion, but there was a marked deficiency or absence of neural crest cells traversing branchial arches 3, 4 and 6, and entering the cardiac outflow tract. This decreased expression of Pax3 in Sp2H/Sp2H embryos was not due to down-regulation of Pax3 in neural crest cells, as use of independent neural crest markers, Hoxa-3, CrabpI, Prx1, Prx2 and c-met also revealed a deficiency of migrating cardiac neural crest cells in homozygous embryos. This work demonstrates the essential role of the cardiac neural crest in formation of the heart and great vessels in the mouse and, furthermore, shows that Pax3 function is required for the cardiac neural crest to complete its migration to the developing heart.

Head morphogenesis in embryonic avian chimeras: evidence for a segmental pattern in the ectoderm corresponding to the neuromeres

Development ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Couly ◽  
N.M. Le Douarin
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Neural Crest ◽  
Developmental Stage ◽  
Neural Tube ◽  
Neural Crest Cells ◽  
Chick Embryos ◽  
Quail Embryo ◽  
Branchial Arches ◽  
Developmental Unit

Areas of the superficial cephalic ectoderm, including or excluding the neural fold at the same level, were surgically removed from 3-somite chick embryos and replaced by their counterparts excised from a quail embryo at the same developmental stage. Strips of ectoderm corresponding to the presumptive branchial arches were delineated, thus defining anteroposterior ‘segments’ (designated here as ‘ectomeres’) that coincided with the spatial distribution of neural crest cells arising from the adjacent levels of the neural fold. This discrete ectodermal metamerisation parallels the segmentation of the hindbrain into rhombomeres. It seems, therefore, that not only is the neural crest patterned according to its rhombomeric origin but that the superficial ectoderm covering the branchial arches may be part of a larger developmental unit that includes the entire neurectoderm, i.e., the neural tube and the neural crest.

scholarly journals In ovo time-lapse analysis of chick hindbrain neural crest cell migration shows cell interactions during migration to the branchial arches

Development ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 127 (6) ◽  
pp. 1161-1172 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.M. Kulesa ◽  
S.E. Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Cell Migration ◽  
Neural Crest ◽  
Neural Crest Cell ◽  
Neural Crest Cells ◽  
Otic Vesicle ◽  
In Ovo ◽  
Branchial Arches ◽  
Neural Crest Cell Migration ◽  
Crest Cell ◽  
Cell Cell

Hindbrain neural crest cells were labeled with DiI and followed in ovo using a new approach for long-term time-lapse confocal microscopy. In ovo imaging allowed us to visualize neural crest cell migration 2–3 times longer than in whole embryo explant cultures, providing a more complete picture of the dynamics of cell migration from emergence at the dorsal midline to entry into the branchial arches. There were aspects of the in ovo neural crest cell migration patterning which were new and different. Surprisingly, there was contact between neural crest cell migration streams bound for different branchial arches. This cell-cell contact occurred in the region lateral to the otic vesicle, where neural crest cells within the distinct streams diverted from their migration pathways into the branchial arches and instead migrated around the otic vesicle to establish a contact between streams. Some individual neural crest cells did appear to cross between the streams, but there was no widespread mixing. Analysis of individual cell trajectories showed that neural crest cells emerge from all rhombomeres (r) and sort into distinct exiting streams adjacent to the even-numbered rhombomeres. Neural crest cell migration behaviors resembled the wide diversity seen in whole embryo chick explants, including chain-like cell arrangements; however, average in ovo cell speeds are as much as 70% faster. To test to what extent neural crest cells from adjoining rhombomeres mix along migration routes and within the branchial arches, separate groups of premigratory neural crest cells were labeled with DiI or DiD. Results showed that r6 and r7 neural crest cells migrated to the same spatial location within the fourth branchial arch. The diversity of migration behaviors suggests that no single mechanism guides in ovo hindbrain neural crest cell migration into the branchial arches. The cell-cell contact between migration streams and the co-localization of neural crest cells from adjoining rhombomeres within a single branchial arch support the notion that the pattern of hindbrain neural crest cell migration emerges dynamically with cell-cell communication playing an important guidance role.

scholarly journals Rhombomeric origin and rostrocaudal reassortment of neural crest cells revealed by intravital microscopy

Development ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 935-945 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Birgbauer ◽  
J. Sechrist ◽  
M. Bronner-Fraser ◽  
S. Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Neural Tube ◽  
Neural Crest Cell ◽  
Neural Crest Cells ◽  
Light Level ◽  
Epifluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Branchial Arches ◽  
Neural Crest Cell Migration ◽  
Migratory Pattern ◽  
Crest Cell

Neural crest cell migration in the hindbrain is segmental, with prominent streams of migrating cells adjacent to rhombomeres (r) r2, r4 and r6, but not r3 or r5. This migratory pattern cannot be explained by the failure of r3 and r5 to produce neural crest, since focal injections of the lipophilic dye, DiI, into the neural folds clearly demonstrate that all rhombomeres produce neural crest cells. Here, we examine the dynamics of hindbrain neural crest cell emigration and movement by iontophoretically injecting DiI into small numbers of cells. The intensely labeled cells and their progeny were repeatedly imaged using low-light-level epifluorescence microscopy, permitting their movement to be followed in living embryos over time. These intravital images definitively show that neural crest cells move both rostrally and caudally from r3 and r5 to emerge as a part of the streams adjacent to r2, r4, and/or r6. Within the first few hours, cells labeled in r3 move within and/or along the dorsal neural tube surface, either rostrally toward the r2/3 border or caudally toward the r3/4 border. The labeled cells exit the surface of the neural tube near these borders and migrate toward the first or second branchial arches several hours after initial labeling. Focal DiI injections into r5 resulted in neural crest cell contributions to both the second and third branchial arches, again via rostrocaudal movements of the cells before migration into the periphery. These results demonstrate conclusively that all rhombomeres give rise to neural crest cells, and that rostrocaudal rearrangement of the cells contributes to the segmental migration of neural crest cells adjacent to r2, r4, and r6. Furthermore, it appears that there are consistent exit points of neural crest cell emigration; for example, cells arising from r3 emigrate almost exclusively from the rostral or caudal borders of that rhombomere.

Avian neural crest cells can migrate in the dorsolateral path only if they are specified as melanocytes

Development ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 915-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.A. Erickson ◽  
T.L. Goins
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Normal Development ◽  
Neural Crest Cells ◽  
Pigment Cells ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Avian Embryo ◽  
Thoracic Level ◽  
Branchial Arches ◽  
Trunk Neural Crest ◽  
Migratory Pathway

Neural crest cells are conventionally believed to migrate arbitrarily into various pathways and to differentiate according to the environmental cues that they encounter. We present data consistent with the notion that melanocytes are directed, by virtue of their phenotype, into the dorsolateral path, whereas other neural crest derivatives are excluded. In the avian embryo, trunk neural crest cells that migrate ventrally differentiate largely into neurons and glial cells of the peripheral nervous system. Neural crest cells that migrate into the dorsolateral path become melanocytes, the pigment cells of the skin. Neural crest cells destined for the dorsolateral path are delayed in their migration until at least 24 hours after migration commences ventrally. Previous studies have suggested that invasion into the dorsolateral path is dependent upon a change in the migratory environment. A complementary possibility is that as neural crest cells differentiate into melanocytes they acquire the ability to take this pathway. When quail neural crest cells that have been grown in culture for 12 hours are labeled with Fluoro-gold and then grafted into the early migratory pathway at the thoracic level, they migrate only ventrally and are coincident with the host neural crest. When fully differentiated melanocytes (96 hours old) are back-grafted under identical conditions, however, they enter the dorsolateral path and invade the ectoderm at least one day prior to the host neural crest. Likewise, neural crest cells that have been cultured for at least 20 hours and are enriched in melanoblasts immediately migrate in the dorsolateral path, in addition to the ventral path, when back-grafted into the thoracic level. A population of neural crest cells depleted of melanoblasts--crest cells derived from the branchial arches--are not able to invade the dorsolateral path, suggesting that only pigment cells or their precursors are able to take this migratory route. These results suggest that as neural crest cells differentiate into melanocytes they can exploit the dorsolateral path immediately. Even when 12-hour crest cells are grafted into stage 19–21 embryos at an axial level where host crest are invading the dorsolateral path, these young neural crest cells do not migrate dorsolaterally. Conversely, melanoblasts or melanocytes grafted under the same circumstances are found in the ectoderm. These latter results suggest that during normal development neural crest cells must be specified, if not already beginning to differentiate, as melanocytes in order to take this path.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Signalling between the hindbrain and paraxial tissues dictates neural crest migration pathways

Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 433-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Trainor ◽  
Dorothy Sobieszczuk ◽  
David Wilkinson ◽  
Robb Krumlauf
Keyword(s):  
Cell Migration ◽  
Neural Crest ◽  
Neural Crest Cell ◽  
Neural Crest Cells ◽  
Cranial Neural Crest ◽  
Branchial Arches ◽  
Neural Crest Cell Migration ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Migration Pathways ◽  
Crest Cell

Cranial neural crest cells are a pluripotent population of cells derived from the neural tube that migrate into the branchial arches to generate the distinctive bone, connective tissue and peripheral nervous system components characteristic of the vertebrate head. The highly conserved segmental organisation of the vertebrate hindbrain plays an important role in pattering the pathways of neural crest cell migration and in generating the distinct or separate streams of crest cells that form unique structures in each arch. We have used focal injections of DiI into the developing mouse hindbrain in combination with in vitro whole embryo culture to map the patterns of cranial neural crest cell migration into the developing branchial arches. Our results show that mouse hindbrain-derived neural crest cells migrate in three segregated streams adjacent to the even-numbered rhombomeres into the branchial arches, and each stream contains contributions of cells from three rhombomeres in a pattern very similar to that observed in the chick embryo. There are clear neural crest-free zones adjacent to r3 and r5. Furthermore, using grafting and lineage-tracing techniques in cultured mouse embryos to investigate the differential ability of odd and even-numbered segments to generate neural crest cells, we find that odd and even segments have an intrinsic ability to produce equivalent numbers of neural crest cells. This implies that inter-rhombomeric signalling is less important than combinatorial interactions between the hindbrain and the adjacent arch environment in specific regions, in the process of restricting the generation and migration of neural crest cells. This creates crest-free territories and suggests that tissue interactions established during development and patterning of the branchial arches may set up signals that the neural plate is primed to interpret during the progressive events leading to the delamination and migration of neural crest cells. Using interspecies grafting experiments between mouse and chick embryos, we have shown that this process forms part of a conserved mechanism for generating neural crest-free zones and contributing to the separation of migrating crest populations with distinct Hox expression during vertebrate head development.

The regeneration of the cephalic neural crest, a problem revisited: the regenerating cells originate from the contralateral or from the anterior and posterior neural fold

Development ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 122 (11) ◽  
pp. 3393-3407 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Couly ◽  
A. Grapin-Botton ◽  
P. Coltey ◽  
N.M. Le Douarin
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Neural Tube ◽  
Hox Genes ◽  
Experimental Situation ◽  
Neural Crest Cells ◽  
Fate Map ◽  
Somite Stage ◽  
Dorsal Neural Tube ◽  
Ventral Neural Tube ◽  
Branchial Arches

The mesencephalic and rhombencephalic levels of origin of the hypobranchial skeleton (lower jaw and hyoid bone) within the neural fold have been determined at the 5-somite stage with a resolution corresponding to each single rhombomere, by means of the quail-chick chimera technique. Expression of certain Hox genes (Hoxa-2, Hoxa-3 and Hoxb-4) was recorded in the branchial arches of chick and quail embryos at embryonic days 3 (E3) and E4. This was a prerequisite for studying the regeneration capacities of the neural crest, after the dorsal neural tube was resected at the mesencephalic and rhombencephalic level. We found first that excisions at the 5-somite stage extending from the midmesencephalon down to r8 are followed by the regeneration of neural crest cells able to compensate for the deficiencies so produced. This confirmed the results of previous authors who made similar excisions at comparable (or older) developmental stages. When a bilateral excision was followed by the unilateral homotopic graft of the dorsal neural tube from a quail embryo, thus mimicking the situation created by a unilateral excision, we found that the migration of the grafted unilateral neural crest (quail-labelled) is bilateral and compensates massively for the missing crest derivatives. The capacity of the intermediate and ventral neural tube to yield neural crest cells was tested by removing the chick rhombencephalic neural tube and replacing it either uni- or bilaterally with a ventral tube coming from a stage-matched quail. No neural crest cells exited from the ventral neural tube but no deficiency in neural crest derivatives was recorded. Crest cells were found to regenerate from the ends of the operated region. This was demonstrated by grafting fragments of quail neural fold at the extremities of the excised territory. Quail neural crest cells were seen migrating longitudinally from both the rostral and caudal ends of the operated region and filling the branchial arches located inbetween. Comparison of the behaviour of neural crest cells in this experimental situation with that showed by their normal fate map revealed that crest cells increase their proliferation rate and change their migratory behaviour without modifying their Hox code.

Interactions between Hox-negative cephalic neural crest cells and the foregut endoderm in patterning the facial skeleton in the vertebrate head

Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 1061-1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gérard Couly ◽  
Sophie Creuzet ◽  
Selim Bennaceur ◽  
Christine Vincent ◽  
Nicole M. Le Douarin
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Hox Genes ◽  
Neural Crest Cells ◽  
Facial Skeleton ◽  
Facial Bones ◽  
Embryonic Axes ◽  
Branchial Arches ◽  
Upper Face ◽  
Neural Crest Origin ◽  
Foregut Endoderm

The vertebrate face contains bones that differentiate from mesenchymal cells of neural crest origin, which colonize the median nasofrontal bud and the first branchial arches. The patterning of individual facial bones and their relative positions occurs through mechanisms that remained elusive. During the early stages of head morphogenesis, an endodermal cul-de-sac, destined to become Sessel’s pouch, underlies the nasofrontal bud. Reiterative outpocketings of the foregut then form the branchial pouches. We have tested the capacity of endoderm of the avian neurula to specify the facial skeleton by performing ablations or grafts of defined endodermal regions. Neural crest cells that do not express Hox genes respond to patterning cues produced regionally in the anterior endoderm to yield distinct skeletal components of the upper face and jaws. However, Hox-expressing neural crest cells do not respond to these cues. Bone orientation is likewise dependent on the position of the endoderm relative to the embryonic axes. Our findings thus indicate that the endoderm instructs neural crest cells as to the size, shape and position of all the facial skeletal elements, whether they are cartilage or membrane bones.

scholarly journals A novel spalt gene expressed in branchial arches affects the ability of cranial neural crest cells to populate sensory ganglia

2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
MEYER BAREMBAUM ◽  
MARIANNE BRONNER-FRASER
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Trigeminal Ganglion ◽  
Neural Tube ◽  
Cell Lineage ◽  
Neural Crest Cells ◽  
Cranial Neural Crest ◽  
Facial Skeleton ◽  
Differentiation Markers ◽  
Branchial Arches ◽  
Cranial Neural Crest Cells

Cranial neural crest cells differentiate into diverse derivatives including neurons and glia of the cranial ganglia, and cartilage and bone of the facial skeleton. Here, we explore the function of a novel transcription factor of the spalt family that might be involved in early cell-lineage decisions of the avian neural crest. The chicken spalt4 gene (csal4) is expressed in the neural tube, migrating neural crest, branchial arches and, transiently, in the cranial ectoderm. Later, it is expressed in the mesectodermal, but not neuronal or glial, derivatives of midbrain and hindbrain neural crest. After over-expression by electroporation into the cranial neural tube and neural crest, we observed a marked redistribution of electroporated neural crest cells in the vicinity of the trigeminal ganglion. In control-electroporated embryos, numerous, labeled neural crest cells (∼80% of the population) entered the ganglion, many of which differentiated into neurons. By contrast, few (∼30% of the population) spalt-electroporated neural crest cells entered the trigeminal ganglion. Instead, they localized in the mesenchyme around the ganglionic periphery or continued further ventrally to the branchial arches. Interestingly, little or no expression of differentiation markers for neurons or other cell types was observed in spalt-electroporated neural crest cells.

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