Le Douarin N M, Dupin E, Ziller C
Institut d'Embryologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, CNRS, Nogent-sur-Marne, France.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 1994 Oct;4(5):685-95. doi: 10.1016/0959-437x(94)90135-p.
The neural crest is a fascinating structure of the vertebrate embryo; its ontogeny includes a transient period during which its component cells undergo an epithelio-mesenchymal transition and become migratory. This phase was shown recently to be controlled by the 'Slug' gene which belongs to the 'Snail' family of Drosophila transcription factors. After homing to specific sites in the embryo, the crest-derived cells produce a large variety of phenotypes. Recent advances have shown that during migration most crest cells exhibit various degrees of pluripotentiality, some being already committed to a single and definite fate. Moreover, several lines of evidence point to the existence of totipotent stem cells in the neural crest, the progeny of which become progressively diversified through a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic influences. The latter have been documented by the disruption of several neurotrophin genes, which results in severe deficiencies of selected subsets of neural crest derivatives. The neural crest has also been shown to play an important role in the development of the vertebrate head and hypobranchial region. The genetic control of this process depends on the activity of developmental genes, among which the vertebrate Hox genes are essential, particularly at the rhombencephalic level.
神经嵴是脊椎动物胚胎中一个迷人的结构；其个体发生包括一个短暂时期，在此期间其组成细胞经历上皮 - 间充质转化并开始迁移。最近发现这一阶段受“Slug”基因控制，该基因属于果蝇转录因子的“Snail”家族。归巢到胚胎中的特定部位后，神经嵴来源的细胞产生多种表型。最近的研究进展表明，在迁移过程中，大多数神经嵴细胞表现出不同程度的多能性，有些已经确定了单一且明确的命运。此外，多条证据表明神经嵴中存在全能干细胞，其后代通过内在和外在影响的组合逐渐多样化。后者已通过破坏几个神经营养因子基因得到证明，这会导致神经嵴衍生物的选定亚群出现严重缺陷。神经嵴在脊椎动物头部和鳃下区域的发育中也起着重要作用。这一过程的遗传控制取决于发育基因的活性，其中脊椎动物的Hox基因至关重要，尤其是在菱脑水平。
