Patterns of lectin binding during mammalian neurogenesis

Temporospatial changes in surface carbohydrates of neuroepithelial cells were analysed by means of lectin histochemistry in normal mouse embryos subsequent to closure of the neural tube. The lectins used were concanavalin A (con A), soybean (SBA), Maclura pomifera (MPA), peanut (PNA), wheatgerm (WGA), succinylated wheatgerm (sWGA) and Limax flavus (LFA). Although labelling was obtained with all of the lectins, the most striking temporospatial differences occurred with con A which in the early embryos (9-10 somites) labelled the basal and intercellular surfaces, but not the luminal surfaces of the neuroepithelial cells, whereas in the older embryos (26-30 somites), con A showed light luminal surface labelling. A midventral wedge of cells in the floor of the neural tube in the older embryos also exhibited more intense labelling with con A, WGA, and sWGA than with the other lectins. In addition, comparisons of lectin localisation were made between the closed neural tube in normal embryos and the open neural folds in the loop-tail (Lp) mutant mouse in which the neural tube fails to close. Although similar temporospatial patterns in lectin localisation occurred as in normal embryos, the retention of lectin labelling associated with rounded putative neural crest cells that remained sequestered in the apices of the open neural folds, along with an attenuation of the luminal reaction in the older abnormal embryos, suggest that during normal mammalian development closure of the spinal neural folds may be important for the timely exit of neural crest cells as well as for eliciting changes in the luminal surfaces of the neuroepithelial cells.