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Assessing Signaling Properties of Ectodermal Epithelia During Craniofacial Development
Published on: March 24, 2011
Blastula stage specification of avian neural crest
Maneeshi S Prasad1, Eileen Uribe-Querol2, Jonathan Marquez2
1Division of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, Riverside, USA.
Abstract:
Cell fate specification defines the earliest steps towards a distinct cell lineage. Neural crest, a multipotent stem cell population, is thought to be specified from the ectoderm, but its varied contributions defy canons of segregation potential and challenges its embryonic origin. Aiming to resolve this conflict, we have assayed the earliest specification of neural crest using blastula stage chick embryos. Specification assays on isolated chick epiblast explants identify an intermediate region specified towards the neural crest cell fate. Furthermore, low density culture suggests that the specification of intermediate cells towards the neural crest lineage is independent of contact mediated induction and Wnt-ligand induced signaling, but is, however, dependent on transcriptional activity of β-catenin. Finally, we have validated the regional identity of the intermediate region towards the neural crest cell fate using fate map studies. Our results suggest a model of neural crest specification within a restricted epiblast region in blastula stage chick embryos.
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