title: Identification of early neurogenic cells in the neural crest lineage.
abstract: Pluripotent neural crest cells are restricted progressively during development. The sequence of restrictions and the time(s) in early development at which such restrictions are imposed on crest-derived cells are largely unknown. We have used a human autoantibody (Anti-Hu) to characterize neurogenic populations of avian neural crest-derived cells. Anti-Hu binds specifically to neurons and neuroendocrine cells in older (greater than E4) quail embryos. Early in development, Anti-Hu also binds a subpopulation of neural crest-derived cells that lack neuronal morphology and do not express other neuronal traits. These cells may represent a putative neurogenic precursor subpopulation within the early crest cell lineage. To test this hypothesis, we have characterized Anti-Hu immunoreactivity within crest-derived populations known to have, or to lack, the ability to give rise to new neurons. We report that the presence of Anti-Hu+ nonneuronal cells is correlated with the neurogenic ability of a given cell population. Moreover, Anti-Hu+ nonneuronal cells are transient and appear to be replaced by Anti-Hu+ neuronal cells. We conclude that Anti-Hu is a very early indicator of neurogenesis among crest-derived cells and that Anti-Hu+ nonneuronal cells are either neurogenic precursors or immature neurons.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene 97403.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Marusich
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Weston
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000032:analysis*; D015415:Biomarkers; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003370:Coturnix / Q000196:embryology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001324:Autoantigens; D015415:Biomarkers