Main description:

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.

Contents:

Discovery and Origins.- Discovery.- Embryological Origins and the Identification of Neural Crest Cells.- Delamination, Migration, and Potential.- Evolutionary Origins.- Neural-Crest Derivatives.- Pigment Cells (Chromatophores).- Neuronal Cells and Nervous Systems.- Cartilage Cells and Skeletal Systems.- Teeth and Hearts: The Odontogenic and Cardiac Neural Crests.- Abnormal Development and the Neural Crest.- Neurocristopathies.- NCC Development Revisited in the Context of Birth Defects.