Seeonlineversionforlegendandreferences.486Cell143,October29,2010©2010ElsevierInc.DOI10.1016/j.cell.2010.10.025SnapShot:NeuralCrestTatjanaSauka-SpenglerandMarianneBronnerCaliforniaInstituteofTechnology,Pasadena,CA91125,USA486.e1Cell143,October29,2010©2010ElsevierInc.DOI10.1016/j.cell.2010.10.025SnapShot:NeuralCrestTatjanaSauka-SpenglerandMarianneBronnerCaliforniaInstituteofTechnology,Pasadena,CA91125,USATheneuralcrestisatransientpopulationofcellsthatemergesfromtheneuraltubeduringtheearlystagesofembryonicdevelopment.Neuralcrestcellsareuniquetovertebratesandhavepropertiessimilartostemcells,includingtheabilitytodifferentiateintomanycelltypes(i.e.,multipotency)andtoregenerate.Neuralcrestcellsmigrateextensivelythroughouttheembryoandthendifferentiatetogiverisetomostofthecellsintheperipheralnervoussystemandthefacialskeleton.Becauseoftheirmultipotencyandregenerativeability,neuralcrestcellsrecentlyhavegarneredgreatattentionfortheirpotentialuseinstemcell-basedtherapies.InthisSnapShot,wedescribekeyregulatoryeventsinvolvedinneuralcrestformation,differentiation,andmigrationduringearlystagesofvertebratedevelopment.FormationofNeuralCrestduringNeurulationInthehumanembryo,thenervoussystembeginstodevelop1monthafterfertilization.Followingneuralinduction,asubsetofcellsintheectodermdifferentiatesintoneuroec-todermtoformtheneuralplate.Thecellsintheneuralplateeventuallygiverisetoboththecentralandperipheralnervoussystems,includingtheentericnervoussystem(ENS),aportionoftheperipheralnervoussystem(PNS)thatcontrolsthegastrointestinalsystem.Inductionoftheneuralcrestoccursshortlyafterneuralinductionattheneuralplateborderbetweentheneuralandnon-neuralectoderm(Figure1A).Transformingintotheneuralfolds,presumptiveneuralcrestcellsformtheleadingedgeoftheclosingneuraltube.Theneuralfoldsthenappose,leadingtoneuraltubeclosure.Subsequently,neuralcrestcellsundergoanepithelialtomesenchymaltransition(EMT),wherebycell-cellinteractionsareseveredtoreleasethecellsfromtheirsurroundingtissue.Thistransitionallows...
