The Neural Crest

A 1999 edition of a highly successful book describing comprehensive research in the study of the neural crest.

The neural crest is a remarkable embryonic population of cells found only in vertebrates and has the potential to give rise to many different cell types contributing throughout the body. These derivatives range from the mesenchymal bone and cartilage comprising the facial skeleton, to neuronal derivatives of the peripheral sensory and autonomic nervous systems, to melanocytes throughout the body, and to smooth muscle of the great arteries of the heart. For these cells to correctly progress from an unspecifi ed, nonmigratory population to a wide array of dynamic, differentiated cell types—some of which retain stem cell characteristics presumably to replenish these derivatives—requires a complex network of molecular switches to control the gene programs giving these cells their defi ning structural, enzymatic, migratory, and signaling capacities. This review will bring together current knowledge of neural crest-specifi c transcription factors governing these progressions throughout the course of development. A more thorough understanding of the mechanisms of transcriptional control in differentiation will aid in strategies designed to push undifferentiated cells toward a particular lineage, and unraveling these processes will help toward reprogramming cells from a differentiated to a more naive state. Table of Contents: Introduction / AP Genes / bHLH Genes / ETS Genes / Fox Genes / Homeobox Genes / Hox Genes / Lim Genes / Pax Genes / POU Domain Genes / RAR/RXR Genes / Smad Genes / Sox Genes / Zinc Finger Genes / Other Miscellaneous Genes / References / Author Biographies

Neural Crest Cells: Evolution, Development and Disease summarizes discoveries of historical significance and provides in-depth, current analyses of the evolution of neural crest cells, their contribution to embryo development, and their roles in disease. In addition, prospects for tissue engineering, repair and regeneration are covered, offering a timely synthesis of the current knowledge in neural crest cell research. A comprehensive resource on neural crest cells for researchers studying cell biology, developmental biology, stem cells and neurobiology, Neural Crest Cells: Evolution, Development and Disease provides foundational information needed for students , practicing physicians and dentists treating patients with craniofacial defects. BMA Medical Book Awards 2014 - Highly Commended,Basic and Clinical Sciences,2014, British Medical Association Provides timely, comprehensive synthesis of the current knowledge of neural crest cells Covers the evolution and development of neural crest cells Includes content on applications for tissue engineering, repair and regeneration

A discussion of the neural crest and neural crest cells, dealing with their discovery, their embryological and evolutionary origins, their cellular derivatives - in both agnathan and jawed vertebrates or gnathostomes - and the broad topics of migration and differentiation in normal development. The book also considers what goes wrong when development is misdirected by mutations, or by exposure of embryos to exogenous agents such as drugs, alcohol, or excess vitamin A, and includes discussions of tumours and syndromes and birth defects involving neural crest cells.

Offers readers an understanding of the development of neural crest cells, which is crucial as many birth defects and tumours are of neural crest origin. Delving into stem cells from different locations of the body, this book explores the best possible source of such cells for the use in medical applications.

A presentation of all aspects of neural crest cell origins (embryological and evolutionary) development and evolution; neural crest cell behavior (migration) and anomalies (neurocristopathies and birth defects) that arise from defective neural crest development. The treatment of development will include discussions of cellular, molecular and genetic aspects of the differentiation and morphogenesis of neural crest cells and structures derived from neural crest cells. The origins of the neural crest in embryology will be discussed using the recent information on the molecular basis of the specification of the neural crest. Also presented are the advances in our understanding of the evolution of jaws from studies on lampreys and of the neural crest from studies on ascidians and amphioxus.