Retinoic acid temporally orchestrates colonization of the gut by vagal neural crest cells.

ABSTRACT: The enteric nervous system arises from neural crest cells that migrate as chains into and along the primitive gut, subsequently differentiating into enteric neurons and glia. Little is known about the mechanisms governing neural crest migration en route to and along the gut in vivo. Here, we report that Retinoic Acid (RA) temporally controls zebrafish enteric neural crest cell chain migration. In vivo imaging reveals that RA loss severely compromises the integrity and migration of the chain of neural crest cells during the window of time window when they are moving along the foregut. After loss of RA, enteric progenitors accumulate in the foregut and differentiate into enteric neurons, but subsequently undergo apoptosis resulting in a striking neuronal deficit. Moreover, ectopic expression

SUBMITTER: Uribe RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5722660 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature