Yasuyo Shigetani

OVERLAPPING ORIGINS OF PHARYNGEAL ARCH CREST CELLS ON THE POSTOTIC HIND-BRAIN

The developing hind‐brain of vertebrates consists of segmental units called rhombomeres. Although crest cells emigrate from the hind‐brain, they are subsequently subdivided into several cell populations that are attached to restricted regions of the hind‐brain. At the preotic level, only even‐numbered rhombomeres are accompanied by crest cells, while the odd‐numbered ones are not. At the postotic level, such the birhombomeric repetition becomes obscure. In order to map the origins and distributions of postotic crest cells, focal injections of Dil were made into various axial levels of the postotic neural tube. Cephalic crest cells at the postotic level first form a single cell population deposited by cells along the dorsolateral pathway. They are called the circumpharyngeal crest cells (CP cells) and are secondarily subdivided into each pharyngeal arch ectomesenchyme. The neural tube extending from r5 to the somite 3/4 boundary gave rise to CP cells. The neuraxial origins of each pharyngeal ectomesenchyme extended for more than three somite lengths, most of which overlapped with the other. Unlike in the preotic region, there is no segmental registration between neuraxial levels and pharyngeal arches. Caudal portions of the CP cell population show a characteristic distribution pattern that circumscribes the postotic pharyngeal arches caudally. Heterotopic transplantation of the Dil‐labeled neural crest into the somite 3 level resulted in a distribution of labeled cells similar to that of CP cells, suggesting that the pattern of distribution depends upon dynamic modification of the body wall associated with pharyngeal arch formation.

Morphological Characteristics of the Developing Cranial Nerves and Mesodermal Head Cavities in Sturgeon Embryos from Early Pharyngula to Late Larval Stages

Abstract As sturgeons are considered to represent a basal group of Osteichthyes, it is necessary to evaluate their developmental features to understand the evolution, not only of bony fishes, but also of tetrapods in general. Using Besters, commercially established hybrid sturgeons, the neural crest cell distribution pattern, mesodermal epithelium, and peripheral nerves were observed based on whole-mount immunostained and -sectioned embryos, from the pre-hatching embryonic stage to a late swimming larval stage. At the early pharyngula stage, the hindbrain exhibits at least six rhombomeres. These have a typical arrangement of neuroepithelial cells, and segmentally distributed cephalic crest cell populations associated with even-numbered rhombomeres medially, and single pharyngeal arches laterally. The head cavities first arise as a pair of epithelial primordia in the prechordal region. Secondarily, the cavity is subdivided mediolaterally into the premandibular and mandibular cavities. These mesodermal components never affect the segmental pattern of cranial nerve roots as seen in the shark embryo (Kuratani and Horigome, 2000), probably due to the early degeneration of the cavities. The hyoid cavity never appears. As observed in several teleosts, the newly hatched Bester larva possesses extensive neurites in the epidermis, originating from both trigeminal placodes and Rohon-Beard cells. This neurite network diminishes during development, in concordance with the appearance of lateral line nerves. All the epibranchial placodes are seen as focal, HNK-1-positive epidermal thickenings and give rise to inferior ganglia of the branchiomeric nerves. Metameric morphology of the branchiomeric nerve innervation is secondarily disturbed through modification of the head region, involving the expansion of the operculum and modification of the jaw.

Ovarian Teratomas in Mice Lacking the Protooncogene c‐mos

Parthenogenesis has been suggested to be tightly coupled with development of ovarian teratomas. Indeed, ovarian tumors developed in c‐mos‐delieicnt female mice, which are characterized by the parthenogenetic activation of oocytes. The tumors appeared at a frequency of 30% between 4 and 8 months of age, and did not develop in younger or older mice. Most of the tumors were benign and consisted of multi‐focal cysts most notably with mature ectodermal components, but also with mesodermal and endodermal components. One among 17 tumors observed consisted of extraembryonic tissues alone, and two bore malignant components with metastasis to peritoneal organs. The results strongly suggest the involvement of c‐mos mutations in human germ cell tumors.