Smith J, Fauquet M, Ziller C, Le Douarin N M
Nature. 1979;282(5741):853-5. doi: 10.1038/282853a0.
Specific to the vertebrate embryo, the neural crest is a transitory structure whose constituent cells migrate extensively through the developing animal and ultimately give rise to many distinct cell types, including the components of the peripheral nervous system. The earliest clear indices of their differentiation have so far been detected only when cells from the crest have reached their destination. This is exemplified by the acquisition of the ability to synthesise and store catecholamines; absent from crest cells before and during their dorso-ventral migration, this ability appears concomitantly with their aggregation into the primary sympathetic ganglia. The chronology of cholinergic maturation, however, is less well defined. Appropriate biochemical markers are demonstrable as soon as parasympathetic or enteric ganglia are formed, but the lack of a suitable cytochemical method is a major obstacle to the identification of any cholinergic cells before then. Although acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is present in migrating neural crest, choline acetyltransferase (CAT), the enzyme catalysing acetylcholine (ACh) synthesis, is a much more relevant correlate, and definitive evidence for cholinergic differentiation should include the demonstration of ACh-synthesising activity in intact cells or their extracts. We show here that neural crest, as soon as it begins migration, can synthesise ACh.
对于脊椎动物胚胎而言，神经嵴是一种过渡性结构，其组成细胞在发育中的动物体内广泛迁移，最终产生许多不同的细胞类型，包括外周神经系统的组成部分。到目前为止，只有当嵴细胞到达目的地时，才能检测到它们分化的最早明确指标。这一点在获得合成和储存儿茶酚胺的能力上得到了体现；在嵴细胞背腹迁移之前和期间，这种能力并不存在，而随着它们聚集形成初级交感神经节，这种能力会随之出现。然而，胆碱能成熟的时间顺序尚不太明确。一旦副交感神经节或肠神经节形成，合适的生化标记就可以被检测到，但在此之前缺乏合适的细胞化学方法是识别任何胆碱能细胞的主要障碍。虽然乙酰胆碱酯酶（AChE）存在于迁移的神经嵴中，但催化乙酰胆碱（ACh）合成的酶——胆碱乙酰转移酶（CAT），是一个更相关的关联指标，胆碱能分化的确切证据应包括在完整细胞或其提取物中证明ACh合成活性。我们在此表明，神经嵴一旦开始迁移，就能够合成ACh。
