Chapter 2 Migration and Differentiation of Neural Crest Cells

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the present state of knowledge concerning the cell types derived from the neural crest and discusses recent advances concerning the migratory process. It focuses on the migration and differentiation of the peripheral nervous system. Among the fundamental problems raised by the ontogeny of the neural crest, the molecular basis of crest cell migration and localization still remains a poorly understood question. Because active investigation of this problem has been recently initiated in several laboratories, one can expect some progress to emerge in this field in the near future. In regard to the other basic question concerning segregation of the various cell lines arising from the neural crest, interesting advances have been made. The experimental analysis of autonomic nerve cell differentiation has shown that the choice of transmitter synthesis remains labile for a while during differentiation of the autonomic neuroblasts into fully functional adrenergic or cholinergic neurons. One of the most attractive hypotheses that could account for the experimental data is that the autonomic neuroblast normally goes through a state during which it is able to synthesize both transmitters (catecholamine and ACh). Thereafter, environmental cues stimulate selectively one or the other of these metabolic pathways until the stable state of chemical differentiation is finally reached.