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Updated: Oct 11, 2026

Chicken Embryo Spinal Cord Slice Culture Protocol
Published on: March 25, 2013
Expression of the novel basic-helix-loop-helix transcription factor cMespo in presomitic mesoderm of chicken embryos
A Buchberger1, S Bonneick, H Arnold
1Department of Cell- and Molecular Biology, University of Braunschweig, Spielmannstrasse 7, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany. a.buchberger@tu-bs.de
Abstract:
We have identified a novel chicken gene, cMespo, which encodes a basic-helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein with sequence homology to a subgroup of bHLH transcription factors that have been implicated in somitogenesis. cMespo transcripts are first found in the primitive streak of gastrulating chick embryos (HH stage 4) and continue to accumulate in presomitic mesoderm (PSM) until somite formation has been concluded. cMespo, however, is not expressed within somites or in tailbud mesoderm. The expression domain of cMespo in PSM largely overlaps with delta-1 but spares a region of several prospective somites at the rostral end of PSM in which c-Meso and Cek-8 are expressed.
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The mesenchyme is the first connective tissue that emerges in the developing embryo. It consists of loosely arranged multipotent mesenchymal cells and reticular fibers in the extracellular matrix. This loose arrangement allows easy migration of cells, which is essential for germ layer positioning, patterning, and organ morphogenesis during embryonic development. Mesenchyme is...

