Segmentation and Neuronal Development in Vertebrate Embryos

Abstract

Understanding the mechanisms of neuronal development and axon guidance necessarily entails the study of suitably simple and accessible experimental models. One such system concerns the generation of segmental patterns during early neuronal development in higher vertebrate (chick) embryos. We describe here the progress which has been made recently in this direction: first, at a molecular level, the factors involved in producing the segmented arrangement of the peripheral spinal nerves; and second, at a cellular level, the importance of segmentation as an influence shaping the neuronal pattern in the developing central nervous system.