Differentiation of the neural plate and neural tube in the young chick embryo

1975 ◽  
Vol 147 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Bancroft ◽  
Ruth Bellairs
1968 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 650-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judson D. Sheridan

Electrophysiological evidence is presented for the exchange of small ions directly between cells interiors, i.e. "electrical coupling," in the early chick embryo. Experiments with intracellular marking show that coupling is widespread, occurring between cells in the same tissue, e.g. ectoderm, notochord, neural plate, mesoderm, and Hensen's node, and between cells in different tissues, e.g. notochord to neural plate, notochord to neural tube, notochord to mesoderm. The coupling demonstrates the presence of specialized low-resistance intercellular junctions as found in other embryos and numerous adult tissues. The results are discussed in relation to recent electron microscopical studies of intercellular junctions in the early chick embryo. The function of the electrical coupling in embryogenesis remains unknown, but some possibilities are considered.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Werner ◽  
Maraki Y. Negesse ◽  
Dominique L. Brooks ◽  
Allyson R. Caldwell ◽  
Jafira M. Johnson ◽  
...  

AbstractPrimary neurulation is the process by which the neural tube, the central nervous system precursor, is formed from the neural plate. Incomplete neural tube closure occurs frequently, yet underlying causes remain poorly understood. Developmental studies in amniotes and amphibians have identified hingepoint and neural fold formation as key morphogenetic events and hallmarks of primary neurulation, the disruption of which causes neural tube defects. In contrast, the mode of neurulation in teleosts has remained highly debated. Teleosts are thought to have evolved a unique mode of neurulation, whereby the neural plate infolds in absence of hingepoints and neural folds, at least in the hindbrain/trunk where it has been studied. Using high-resolution imaging and time-lapse microscopy, we show here the presence of these morphological landmarks in the zebrafish anterior neural plate. These results reveal similarities between neurulation in teleosts and other vertebrates and hence the suitability of zebrafish to understand human neurulation.


Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (7) ◽  
pp. 1583-1593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta G. del Barrio ◽  
M. Angela Nieto

The Snail gene family of transcription factors plays crucial roles in different morphogenetic processes during the development of vertebrate and invertebrate embryos. In previous studies of function interference for one of the family members, Slug, we showed its involvement and neural crest formation in the chick embryo. Now we have carried out a series of gain-of-function experiments in which we show that Slug overexpression in the neural tube of the chick embryo induces an increase in neural crest production. The analysis of electroporated embryos shows that Slug can induce the expression of rhoB and an increase in the number of HNK-1-positive migratory cells, indicating that it lies upstream of them in the genetic cascade of neural crest development. The increase in neural crest production after Slug overexpression was confined to the cranial region, indicating that the mechanisms of crest induction somehow differ between head and trunk. The expression of the two vertebrate family members, Slug and Snail, is peculiar with respect to the neural crest. Slug is not expressed in the premigratory crest in the mouse, whereas it is expressed in this cell population in the chick and the opposite is true for Snail(Sefton, M., Sánchez, S. and Nieto M. A. (1998) Development125, 3111-3121). This raises the question of whether they can be functionally equivalent. To test this hypothesis both intra- and interspecies, we have performed a series of ectopic expression experiments by electroporating chick and mouse Snail in the chick embryo hindbrain. We observe that both genes elicit the same responses in the neural tube. Our results indicate that they can be functionally equivalent, although the embryos show a higher response to the endogenous gene, chick Slug.


eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shashank Gandhi ◽  
Erica J Hutchins ◽  
Krystyna Maruszko ◽  
Jong H Park ◽  
Matthew Thomson ◽  
...  

During gastrulation, neural crest cells are specified at the neural plate border, as characterized by Pax7 expression. Using single-cell RNA sequencing coupled with high-resolution in situ hybridization to identify novel transcriptional regulators, we show that chromatin remodeler Hmga1 is highly expressed prior to specification and maintained in migrating chick neural crest cells. Temporally controlled CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockouts uncovered two distinct functions of Hmga1 in neural crest development. At the neural plate border, Hmga1 regulates Pax7-dependent neural crest lineage specification. At premigratory stages, a second role manifests where Hmga1 loss reduces cranial crest emigration from the dorsal neural tube independent of Pax7. Interestingly, this is rescued by stabilized ß-catenin, thus implicating Hmga1 as a canonical Wnt activator. Together, our results show that Hmga1 functions in a bimodal manner during neural crest development to regulate specification at the neural plate border, and subsequent emigration from the neural tube via canonical Wnt signaling.


Development ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 127 (22) ◽  
pp. 4837-4843 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Bertrand ◽  
F. Medevielle ◽  
F. Pituello

We have recently demonstrated that Pax6 activation occurs in phase with somitogenesis in the spinal cord. Here we show that the presomitic mesoderm exerts an inhibitory activity on Pax6 expression. This repressive effect is mediated by the FGF signalling pathway. The presomitic mesoderm displays a decreasing caudorostral gradient of FGF8, and grafting FGF8-soaked beads at the level of the neural tube abolishes Pax6 activation. Conversely, when FGF signalling is disrupted, Pax6 is prematurely activated in the neural plate. We propose that the progression of Pax6 activation in the neural tube is controlled by the caudal regression of the anterior limit of FGF activity. Hence, as part of its posteriorising activity, FGF8 downregulation acts as a switch from early (posterior) to a later (anterior) state of neural epithelial development.


Development ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-108
Author(s):  
Ruth Bellairs ◽  
Marianne Veini

In a previous paper it was suggested that collagen fibrils play an important role in the process of somite segmentation. This paper was designed mainly to test that concept. In one series of experiments, embryos were treated with either αα′-dipyridyl or L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid, which are analogues that interfere with the formation of normal collagen. The reagents led to a reduction in the numbers of somites that formed, as well as to the production of other anomalies such as overall diminution in size and retardation. The older the embryo at the time of treatment, the further posteriorly were the major anomalies located. It is concluded that these results lend some support to the concept. In a second series of experiments an incision was made along one side of the neural tube and notochord to separate it from the segmental plate on one side. The result was that many more somites formed on the unoperated (control) side of the embryo than on the operated side. It is concluded that these results also lend support to the concept; but that they are of interest also in relation to the mechanisms involved in the control of somite numbers. In a third group of experiments, attempts were made to obtain somites in the absence of endoderm. Although this was not possible using surgery, it was achieved by treating the young embryos with u.v. irradiation. It was concluded that the presence of endoderm is not essential for the segmentation of mesoderm.


Development ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.M. Lim ◽  
E.R. Lunn ◽  
R.J. Keynes ◽  
C.D. Stern

In all higher vertebrate embryos the sensory ganglia of the trunk develop adjacent to the neural tube, in the cranial halves of the somite-derived sclerotomes. It has been known for many years that ganglia do not develop in the most cranial (occipital) sclerotomes, caudal to the first somite. Here we have investigated whether this is due to craniocaudal variation in the neural tube or crest, or to an unusual property of the sclerotomes at occipital levels. Using the monoclonal antibody HNK-1 as a marker for neural crest cells in the chick embryo, we find that the crest does enter the cranial halves of the occipital sclerotomes. Furthermore, staining with zinc iodide/osmium tetroxide shows that some of these crest-derived cells sprout axons within these sclerotomes. By stage 23, however, no dorsal root ganglia are present within the five occipital sclerotomes, as assessed both by haematoxylin/eosin and zinc iodide/osmium tetroxide staining. Moreover, despite this loss of sensory cells, motor axons grow out in these segments, many of them later fasciculating to form the hypoglossal nerve. The sclerotomes remain visible until stages 27/28, when they dissociate to form the base of the skull and the atlas and axis vertebrae. After grafting occipital neural tube from quail donor embryos in place of trunk neural tube in host chick embryos, quail-derived ganglia do develop in the trunk sclerotomes. This shows that the failure of occipital ganglion development is not the result of some fixed local property of the neural crest or neural tube at occipital levels. We therefore suggest that in the chick embryo the cranial halves of the five occipital sclerotomes lack factors essential for normal sensory ganglion development, and that these factors are correspondingly present in all the more caudal sclerotomes.


Development ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-29
Author(s):  
R. K. Jordan

The passage of low-frequency alternating current was found superior to other methods considered for the production of small, discrete, electrolytic ablations in young chick embryos. Active electrodes of tungsten metal less than 5 µm in diameter were prepared by controlled electrolytic corrosion. These gave reproducible, discrete foci of destruction of the required size, with currents less than 2 mA. The identification of destroyed tissue areas was immediately apparent under the operating microscope and confirmed histologically. Preliminary studies on bilateral extirpation of the ultimobranchial primordia show the absence of the ultimobranchial bodies 6 days after destruction of the primordia at 96 h of incubation.


Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Pera ◽  
S. Stein ◽  
M. Kessel

Ectodermal patterning of the chick embryo begins in the uterus and continues during gastrulation, when cells with a neural fate become restricted to the neural plate around the primitive streak, and cells fated to become the epidermis to the periphery. The prospective epidermis at early stages is characterized by the expression of the homeobox gene DLX5, which remains an epidermal marker during gastrulation and neurulation. Later, some DLX5-expressing cells become internalized into the ventral forebrain and the neural crest at the hindbrain level. We studied the mechanism of ectodermal patterning by transplantation of Hensen's nodes and prechordal plates. The DLX5 marker indicates that not only a neural plate, but also a surrounding epidermis is induced in such operations. Similar effects can be obtained with neural plate grafts. These experiments demonstrate that the induction of a DLX5-positive epidermis is triggered by the midline, and the effect is transferred via the neural plate to the periphery. By repeated extirpations of the endoderm we suppressed the formation of an endoderm/mesoderm layer under the epiblast. This led to the generation of epidermis, and to the inhibition of neuroepithelium in the naked ectoderm. This suggests a signal necessary for neural, but inhibitory for epidermal development, normally coming from the lower layers. Finally, we demonstrate that BMP4, as well as BMP2, is capable of inducing epidermal fate by distorting the epidermis-neural plate boundary. This, however, does not happen independently within the neural plate or outside the normal DLX5 domain. In the area opaca, the co-transplantation of a BMP4 bead with a node graft leads to the induction of DLX5, thus indicating the cooperation of two factors. We conclude that ectodermal patterning is achieved by signalling both from the midline and from the periphery, within the upper but also from the lower layers.


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