George Lynn, Chaverra Marta, Todd Valerie, Lansford Rusty, Lefcort Frances
Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Montana State University, Leon Johnson Hall, Rm 512, Bozeman, Montana 59717, USA.
Nat Neurosci. 2007 Oct;10(10):1287-93. doi: 10.1038/nn1962. Epub 2007 Sep 2.
Neural crest cells (NCCs) are a transient population of multipotent progenitors that give rise to numerous cell types in the embryo. An unresolved issue is the degree to which the fate of NCCs is specified prior to their emigration from the neural tube. In chick embryos, we identified a subpopulation of NCCs that, upon delamination, crossed the dorsal midline to colonize spatially discrete regions of the contralateral dorsal root ganglia (DRG), where they later gave rise to nearly half of the nociceptor sensory neuron population. Our data indicate that before emigration, this NCC subset is phenotypically distinct, with an intrinsic lineage potential that differs from its temporally synchronized, but ipsilaterally migrating, cohort. These findings not only identify a major source of progenitor cells for the pain- and temperature-sensing afferents, but also reveal a previously unknown migratory pathway for sensory-fated NCCs that requires the capacity to cross the embryonic midline.
神经嵴细胞（NCCs）是一类多能祖细胞的短暂群体，可在胚胎中产生多种细胞类型。一个尚未解决的问题是，NCCs在从神经管迁出之前，其命运的指定程度如何。在鸡胚中，我们鉴定出了一个NCCs亚群，该亚群在脱层后穿过背中线，定殖于对侧背根神经节（DRG）的空间离散区域，随后它们产生了近一半的伤害性感受器感觉神经元群体。我们的数据表明，在迁出之前，这个NCCs亚群在表型上是不同的，其内在谱系潜能与其时间同步但同侧迁移的群体不同。这些发现不仅确定了疼痛和温度感觉传入祖细胞的主要来源，还揭示了一条以前未知的感觉命运NCCs迁移途径，该途径需要穿过胚胎中线的能力。
