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Updated: Jul 7, 2026
05:36
Dissection and Lateral Mounting of Zebrafish Embryos: Analysis of Spinal Cord Development
Published on: February 28, 2014
Hoxd10 induction and regionalization in the developing lumbosacral spinal cord
C Lance-Jones1, N Omelchenko, A Bailis
1Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. clancej@pitt.edu
Development (Cambridge, England)
|August 9, 2001
Summary
The chick embryo
Area of Science:
- Developmental biology
- Neuroscience
- Genetics
Background:
- Hoxd10 expression marks the lumbosacral region in chick embryos.
- Understanding the early programming of spinal cord regional identity is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the timing and mechanisms of Hoxd10 expression establishment in the developing chick spinal cord.
- To determine how environmental signals influence regional identity programming.
Main Methods:
- Transposition of neural tube segments at early stages.
- Analysis of Hoxd10 expression patterns.
- Experiments involving neural and paraxial mesoderm segment transplantation.
Main Results:
- An early prepattern for Hoxd10 expression exists in the lumbosacral neural tube before neural tube closure.
- Posterior segments show a greater capacity for high Hoxd10 expression.
- Environmental signals stabilize this prepattern, establishing regional identity.
- A posterior-to-anterior gradient of signals influences Hoxd10 expression.
Conclusions:
- Hoxd10 expression programming involves an early prepattern and subsequent stabilization by environmental signals.
- Signals from posterior embryonic regions, not solely adjacent mesoderm, shape this programming.
- Motor column organization and LIM protein patterns follow similar developmental rules.
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