title: Conversion of neural plate explants to pre-placodal ectoderm-like tissue in vitro.
abstract: Neural crest and cranial sensory placodes arise from ectodermal epithelium lying between the neural plate and non-neural ectoderm (neural border). BMP signaling is important for both an induction of the neural border and a subsequent induction of the neural crest within the neural border. In contrast, FGF signaling is important for the neural border induction and the following induction of the pre-placodal ectoderm (PPE), which later gives rise to the cranial sensory placodes. While previous studies have demonstrated that the neural plate explants could be converted to the neural crest cells by adding BMP4 in a culture medium, there is no report showing a similar conversion of the neural plate to the PPE. We therefore examined the effect of FGF2 along with BMP4 on the rostral neural plate explants and found that the explants became the simple squamous epithelia, which were characterized by the desmosomes/tonofilaments in membranes of adjacent cells. Such epithelia expressed sets of neural border markers and the PPE genes, suggesting that the neural plate explants were converted to a PPE-like tissue. This method will be useful for further studying mechanisms of PPE induction and subsequent specifications of the cranial placodes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8 Nishi-shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0003, Japan. Electronic address: yshigetani@jikei.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yasuyo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shigetani
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Neuroscience, United Centers for Advance Research and Translational Medicine, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wakamatsu
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Cell Biology, Core Research Facilities for Basic Science, Research Center for Medical Science, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8 Nishi-shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tachibana
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, The Jikei University School of Medicine, 3-25-8 Nishi-shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okabe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 / Q000378:metabolism*; D002645:Chickens; D004475:Ectoderm / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000502:physiology; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D054258:Neural Plate / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology*; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000502:physiology; D011784:Quail; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: C525809:BMP4 protein, human; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2
keywords: BMP4; FGF2; Neural border; Neural crest; Neural plate; Pre-placodal ectoderm