title: Establishing neural crest identity: a gene regulatory recipe.
abstract: The neural crest is a stem/progenitor cell population that contributes to a wide variety of derivatives, including sensory and autonomic ganglia, cartilage and bone of the face and pigment cells of the skin. Unique to vertebrate embryos, it has served as an excellent model system for the study of cell behavior and identity owing to its multipotency, motility and ability to form a broad array of cell types. Neural crest development is thought to be controlled by a suite of transcriptional and epigenetic inputs arranged hierarchically in a gene regulatory network. Here, we examine neural crest development from a gene regulatory perspective and discuss how the underlying genetic circuitry results in the features that define this unique cell population.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simões-Costa
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA mbronner@caltech.edu.
authors.forename: Marianne E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bronner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000196:embryology*; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000196:embryology*
keywords: Gene regulation; Migration; Neural crest; Neural plate border; Signaling; Transcription factors