CXCR4 controls ventral migration of sympathetic precursor cells

The molecular mechanisms that sort migrating neural crest cells (NCCs) along a shared pathway into two functionally discrete structures, the dorsal root ganglia and sympathetic ganglia (SGs), are unknown. We report here that this patterning is attributable in part to differential expression of the chemokine receptor, CXCR4. We show that (1) a distinct subset of ventrally migrating NCCs express CXCR4 and this subset is destined to form the neural core of the sympathetic ganglia, and (2) the CXCR4 ligand, SDF-1, is a chemoattractant for NCCs in vivo and is expressed adjacent to the future SGs. Reduction of CXCR4 expression in NCCs disrupts their migration toward the future SGs, whereas overexpression of CXCR4 in non-SG-destined NCCs induces them to migrate aberrantly toward the SGs. These data are the first to demonstrate a major role for chemotaxis in the patterning of NCC migration and demonstrate the neural crest is composed of molecularly heterogeneous cell populations.