Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Aug 1;428(1):176-187.
doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.06.002. Epub 2017 Jun 15.

Lamprey neural crest migration is Snail-dependent and occurs without a differential shift in cadherin expression

Joshua R York  1 , Tian Yuan  1 , Kevin Zehnder  1 , David W McCauley  2
Affiliations
Free article

Lamprey neural crest migration is Snail-dependent and occurs without a differential shift in cadherin expression

Joshua R York et al. Dev Biol. .
Free article

Abstract

The acquisition of neural crest cells was a key step in the origin of the vertebrate body plan. An outstanding question is how neural crest cells acquired their ability to undergo an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and migrate extensively throughout the vertebrate embryo. We tested if differential regulation of classical cadherins-a highly conserved feature of neural crest EMT and migration in jawed vertebrates-mediates these cellular behaviors in lamprey, a basal jawless vertebrate. Lamprey has single copies of the type I and type II classical cadherins (CadIA and CadIIA). CadIIA is expressed in premigratory neural crest, and requires the transcription factor Snail for proper expression, yet CadIA is never expressed in the neural tube during neural crest development, suggesting that differential regulation of classical cadherin expression is not required to initiate neural crest migration in basal vertebrates. We hypothesize that neural crest cells evolved by retention of regulatory programs linking distinct mesenchymal and multipotency properties, and emigrated from the neural tube without differentially regulating type I/type II cadherins. Our results point to the coupling of mesenchymal state and multipotency as a key event facilitating the origin of migratory neural crest cells.

Keywords: Cadherin; Cellular neoteny; Epithelial mesenchymal transition; Neural crest; Snail.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources