The origin and development of glial cells in peripheral nerves.
During the development of peripheral nerves, neural crest cells generate myelinating and non-myelinating glial cells in a process that parallels gliogenesis from the germinal layers of the CNS. Unlike central gliogenesis, neural crest development involves a protracted embryonic phase devoted to the generation of, first, the Schwann cell precursor and then the immature Schwann cell, a cell whose fate as a myelinating or non-myelinating cell has yet to be determined. Embryonic nerves therefore offer a particular opportunity to analyse the early steps of gliogenesis from transient multipotent stem cells, and to understand how this process is integrated with organogenesis of peripheral nerves.
Jessen
Kristjan R
KR
Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. k.jessen@ucl.ac.uk
Mirsky
Rhona
R
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D006801:Humans; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000166:cytology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology