Lecture

Molecular Cues of Neurulation

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Description

This lecture delves into the molecular signals involved in neurulation, focusing on Sonic hedgehog as a ventralizing signal that determines the differentiation of neural lineage. It explores how Sonic hedgehog inhibits specific transcription factors, leading to the polarization of the neural tube. Additionally, it discusses the interplay between ventralizing and dorsalizing signals, such as BMPs, in defining precise areas within the neural tube. The concept of secondary organizers, like the floor plate and anterior neural ridge, is also explained, highlighting their role in brain development and the establishment of specific regions in the brain's anatomy.

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Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Biology

Cell biology: Cell signaling

Related concepts (32)

Neurulation

Neurulation refers to the folding process in vertebrate embryos, which includes the transformation of the neural plate into the neural tube. The embryo at this stage is termed the neurula. The process begins when the notochord induces the formation of the central nervous system (CNS) by signaling the ectoderm germ layer above it to form the thick and flat neural plate. The neural plate folds in upon itself to form the neural tube, which will later differentiate into the spinal cord and the brain, eventually forming the central nervous system.

Neural crest

Neural crest cells are a temporary group of cells that arise from the embryonic ectoderm germ layer, and in turn give rise to a diverse cell lineage—including melanocytes, craniofacial cartilage and bone, smooth muscle, peripheral and enteric neurons and glia. After gastrulation, neural crest cells are specified at the border of the neural plate and the non-neural ectoderm. During neurulation, the borders of the neural plate, also known as the neural folds, converge at the dorsal midline to form the neural tube.

Neural plate

The neural plate is a key developmental structure that serves as the basis for the nervous system. Cranial to the primitive node of the embryonic primitive streak, ectodermal tissue thickens and flattens to become the neural plate. The region anterior to the primitive node can be generally referred to as the neural plate. Cells take on a columnar appearance in the process as they continue to lengthen and narrow. The ends of the neural plate, known as the neural folds, push the ends of the plate up and together, folding into the neural tube, a structure critical to brain and spinal cord development.

Neural fold

The neural fold is a structure that arises during neurulation in the embryonic development of both birds and mammals among other organisms. This structure is associated with primary neurulation, meaning that it forms by the coming together of tissue layers, rather than a clustering, and subsequent hollowing out, of individual cells (known as secondary neurulation). In humans, the neural folds are responsible for the formation of the anterior end of the neural tube.

Neural groove

The neural groove is a shallow median groove of the neural plate between the neural folds of an embryo. The neural plate is a thick sheet of ectoderm surrounded on either side by the neural folds, two longitudinal ridges in front of the primitive streak of the developing embryo. The groove gradually deepens as the neural folds become elevated, and ultimately the folds meet and coalesce in the middle line and convert the groove into a closed tube, the neural tube or canal, the ectodermal wall of which forms the rudiment of the nervous system.

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