Notch signalling defines dorsal root ganglia neuroglial fate choice during early neural crest cell migration

摘要

BackgroundThe dorsal root ganglia (DRG) are a critical component of the peripheral nervous system, and function to relay somatosensory information from the body’s periphery to sensory perception centres within the brain. The DRG are primarily comprised of two cell types, sensory neurons and glia, both of which are neural crest-derived. Notch signalling is known to play an essential role in defining the neuronal or glial fate of bipotent neural crest progenitors that migrate from the dorsal ridge of the neural tube to the sites of the DRG. However, the involvement of Notch ligands in this process and the timing at which neuronal versus glial fate is acquired has remained uncertain.