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Published August 15, 1997 | Published
Journal Article Open

Early- and late-migrating cranial neural crest cell populations have equivalent developmental potential in vivo

Abstract

We present the first in vivo study of the long-term fate and potential of early-migrating and late-migrating mesencephalic neural crest cell populations, by performing isochronic and heterochronic quail-to-chick grafts. Both early- and late-migrating populations form melanocytes, neurons, glia, cartilage and bone in isochronic, isotopic chimeras, showing that neither population is lineage-restricted. The early-migrating population distributes both dorsally and ventrally during normal development, while the late-migrating population is confined dorsally and forms much less cartilage and bone. When the late-migrating population is substituted heterochronically for the early-migrating population, it contributes extensively to ventral derivatives such as jaw cartilage and bone. Conversely, when the early-migrating population is substituted heterochronically for the late-migrating population, it no longer contributes to the jaw skeleton and only forms dorsal derivatives. When the late-migrating population is grafted into a late-stage host whose neural crest had previously been ablated, it migrates ventrally into the jaws. Thus, the dorsal fate restriction of the late-migrating mesencephalic neural crest cell population in normal development is due to the presence of earlier-migrating neural crest cells, rather than to any change in the environment or to any intrinsic difference in migratory ability or potential between early- and late-migrating cell populations. These results highlight the plasticity of the neural crest and show that its fate is determined primarily by the environment.

Additional Information

Copyright © 1997 by Company of Biologists. (Accepted 4 May 1997) Thanks to Delphine Champeval and Claude Oudin for technical assistance, and to Yann Rantier for photographs of embryos. Thanks to Michael Rodrigues for suggesting the early ablation, late grafting experiment, and to Andy Groves and Mark Selleck for helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by Wellcome Trust Travelling Research Fellowship 043093/Z/94/Z, and by Human Frontier Science Program Fellowship LT-63/96.

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August 22, 2023
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