How to innervate a simple gut: familiar themes and unique aspects in the formation of the insect enteric nervous system.

ABSTRACT: Like the vertebrate enteric nervous system (ENS), the insect ENS consists of interconnected ganglia and nerve plexuses that control gut motility. However, the insect ENS lies superficially on the gut musculature, and its component cells can be individually imaged and manipulated within cultured embryos. Enteric neurons and glial precursors arise via epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions that resemble the generation of neural crest cells and sensory placodes in vertebrates; most cells then migrate extensive distances before differentiating. A balance of proneural and neurogenic genes regulates the morphogenetic programs that produce distinct structures within the insect ENS. In vivo studies have also begun to decipher the mechanisms by which enteric neurons integrate multiple guidance cues

SUBMITTER: Copenhaver PF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3097047 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature