Abstract
During early vertebrate development, neural crest cells emerge from the dorsal neural tube, migrate into the periphery, and form a wide range of derivatives. There is, however, a significant difference between the cranial and trunk neural crest with respect to the diversity of cell types that each normally produces. Thus, while crest cells from all axial levels form neurons, glia, and melanocytes, the cranial crest additionally generates skeletal derivatives such as bone and cartilage; trunk crest cells are generally thought to lack skeletogenic potential. Here, we show, however, that if avian trunk neural crest cells are cultured in appropriate media, they form both bone and cartilage cells, and if placed into the developing head, they contribute to cranial skeletal components. Thus, the neural crest from all axial levels can generate the full repertoire of crest derivatives. The skeletogenic potential of the trunk neural crest is significant, as it was likely realized in early vertebrates, which had extensive postcranial exoskeletal coverings.
Highlights
We have exploited a media commonly used for growing bone and cartilage cells, which includes dexamethasone, ascorbic acid, and -glycerophosphate, to directly compare the potential of the avian cranial and the trunk neural crest to form bone and cartilage [1]
In vitro, the crest from both cranial and truncal levels will form skeletogenic derivatives and will have equal potential to do so. While these results demonstrate that avian trunk crest cells can form skeletal derivatives in culture, it has previously been suggested that the trunk crest cannot form these cell types in vivo
It has long been evident that neural crest cells from particular axial levels form a restricted set of derivatives: sympathetic neurons arise from the trunk crest, enteric neurons from the vagal and lumbosacral crest, and cartilage and bone from the cranial crest [7]
Summary
After 4–5 weeks in culture, midbrain neural crest explants (n ϭ 6) gave rise to bone and cartilage cells, as evidenced through alizarin red and alcian blue staining (Figures 1A and 1B). And in keeping with our previous observations, we found that trunk neural crest cells expressed collagen I after 3–4 weeks in culture (n ϭ 7) (Figures 2C and 2D).
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