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Updated: Jun 18, 2026
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Neural Tube Closure in Mouse Whole Embryo Culture
Published on: October 21, 2011
Quantitative Analysis of Cell and Tissue Shape During Mouse Cranial Neural Tube Closure
Kristina A Borys1, Eric R Brooks1
1Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Bio-Protocol
|June 17, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed new methods to study cranial neural tube closure in mouse embryos. These protocols quantify cell dynamics and tissue remodeling, aiding the investigation of birth defects.
Area of Science:
- Developmental biology
- Morphogenesis
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Neural tube closure is vital for central nervous system development.
- Defects in cranial closure cause severe human birth defects.
- Cranial closure mechanisms are poorly understood compared to spinal closure.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present protocols for quantifying cell dynamics and tissue remodeling during cranial neural tube closure.
- To enable spatiotemporally resolved investigations into the causes of cranial closure defects.
- To provide tools for analyzing cell and tissue-level morphometrics in mouse embryos.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing brightfield morphometrics, fluorescent staining, and confocal imaging.
- Developing quantitative pipelines for image-based dataset analysis.
- Focusing on quantifying apical cell area and overall tissue shape.
Main Results:
- Enabling quantification of cell dynamics and tissue remodeling events.
- Providing rich datasets on cell-level parameters like apical cell area.
- Facilitating identification of differences between mutant and control embryos.
Conclusions:
- The presented protocols offer flexible and quantitative pipelines for morphogenetic studies.
- Robust methods for cranial tissue mounting and imaging are established.
- The approaches allow assessment of cellular remodeling's role in tissue deformation during closure and in mutants.
