Making Sense of the Sensory Lineage

摘要

Neural crest cells, a uniquely vertebrate cell type, are characterized by their ability to migrate throughout the developing embryo and to form many diverse tissues. These cells arise within the developing central nervous system and sub-sequently migrate away, sometimes moving extremely long distances to populate peripheral regions of the embryo (see the figure). Neural crest cells are multipotent progenitors that give rise to an impressive array of cell types, including neurons and glia of the peripheral nervous system, cartilage and bones of the face, and melanocytes (pigment cells). Perhaps the best studied neural crest derivatives are the peripheral ganglia, which comprise neurons and sup-port cells that form as aggregates outside the brain and spinal cord. These contain neurons of many different flavors, includ-ing sensory neurons (which relay touchand pain information to the brain) and auto-nomic neurons (which innervate various or-gans and modulate their activity). A report on page 1020 of this issue bv Lee et al.