Neural crest: facing the facts of head development.
The cranial neural crest originates at the dorsal margin of the neural tube and produces migratory cells that populate various locations in the head. They are a crucial factor in the development of the vertebrate head because they give rise to numerous differentiated cell types, including the cartilage, bone and connective tissues of the skull. Thus, the coordinated regulation of crest cell movement and patterning is pivotal to the acquisition of organized head structure. Two recent papers cast light on the molecular mechanisms and tissue interactions employed by an embryo to achieve this goal. Here, we discuss the implications of these findings in view of pre-existing principles of neural crest patterning. Crucially, these new data implicate, for the first time, that head skeletal patterning is controlled by tissue other than the neural crest.
Chambers
David
D
McGonnell
Imelda M
IM
D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo; D004707:Endoderm / Q000502:physiology; D051524:Fibroblast Growth Factor 8; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors / Q000502:physiology; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D006257:Head / Q000196:embryology*; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
D051524:Fibroblast Growth Factor 8; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors