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Penetration and differentiation of cephalic neural crest‐derived cells in the developing mouse telencephalon
Author(s) -
Yamanishi Emiko,
Takahashi Masanori,
Saga Yumiko,
Osumi Noriko
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
development, growth and differentiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1440-169X
pISSN - 0012-1592
DOI - 10.1111/dgd.12007
Subject(s) - cerebrum , biology , population , embryonic stem cell , neural crest , forebrain , pericyte , microbiology and biotechnology , anatomy , neuroscience , endothelial stem cell , genetics , central nervous system , embryo , medicine , gene , in vitro , environmental health
Neural crest ( NC ) cells originate from the neural folds and migrate into the various embryonic regions where they differentiate into multiple cell types. A population of cephalic neural crest‐derived cells ( NCDC s) penetrates back into the developing forebrain to differentiate into microvascular pericytes, but little is known about when and how cephalic NCDC s invade the telencephalon and differentiate into pericytes. Using a transgenic mouse line in which NCDC s are genetically labeled with enhanced green fluorescent protein ( EGFP ), we observed that NCDC s started to invade the telencephalon together with endothelial cells from embryonic day (E) 9.5. A majority of NCDC s located in the telencephalon expressed pericyte markers, that is, PDGFR β and NG 2, and differentiated into pericytes around E11.5. Surprisingly, many of the NC ‐derived pericytes express p75, an undifferentiated NCDC marker at E11.5, as well as NCDC s in the mesenchyme. At the same time, a minor population of NCDC s that located separately from blood vessels in the telencephalon were NG 2‐negative and some of these NCDC s also expressed p75. Proliferation and differentiation of pericytes appeared to occur in a specific mesenchymal region where blood vessels penetrated into the telencephalon. These results indicate that (i) NCDC s penetrate back into the telencephalon in parallel with angiogenesis, (ii) many NC ‐derived pericytes may be still in pre‐mature states even though after differentiation into pericytes in the early developing stages, (iii) a small minority of NCDC s may retain undifferentiated states in the developing telencephalon, and (iv) a majority of NCDC s proliferate and differentiate into pericytes in the mesenchyme around the telencephalon.