Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published December 1991 | public
Journal Article

Birth and Differentiation of Reticular Neurons in the Chick Hindbrain: Ontogeny of the First Neuronal Population

Abstract

To understand better early neuronal birth and differentiation in higher vertebrates, we have examined the time when presumptive neurons in the chick embryo first withdraw from the cell cycle and express neurofilaments. Hindbrain reticular neurons arise prior to the definitive streak stage of gastrulation and represent the first neuronal population to be born. The birth of hindbrain reticular neurons and spinal interneurons occurs in a rostrocaudal sequence that closely parallels regression of Hensen's node. More rostral brain stem neurons are born shortly after those in the hindbrain. Neurofilament expression in reticular neuroblasts first occurs by the 7-somite stage, followed by axon outgrowth by the 15-somite stage. When neural plate morphogenesis is inhibited, neurofilament expression occurs on schedule in neurons that are undergoing or have completed terminal mitosis. Our results suggest that the inductive cues governing the birth and initial differentiation of reticular neurons are imparted by gastrulation and early neurulation.

Additional Information

© 1991 Cell Press. Received 8 July 1991, Revised 30 August 1991. We thank Drs. Scott Fraser, Michael Cullen, Andrew Lumsden, and Jonathan Cooke for their comments on the manuscript and Ors. Jay Angevine, JoAnn McConnell, and Arthur LaVelle for helpful suggestions regarding [^3H]thymidine autoradiography. The technical assistance of Virginia Satterfield was also much appreciated. This work was supported in part by grants HD25138 and BNS 8809454 to M. B-F. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 USC Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

Additional details

Created:
August 20, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023