OPTIC CUP By day 22, the earliest stage of eye development begins.

It is the formation of the paired optic vesicles of the forebrain that evaginates from the diencephalic region of the neural tube, with their distal surfaces, the retinal discs, placed to the inner surface of adjacent ectoderm. They expand laterally into the mesoderm of the head and develop a stalk-like connection to the main portion of the rudimentary central nervous system. As the vesicles continue to grow, their connection to the brain becomes progressively narrower and more stalk-like. The forming stalks will eventually become the rudiments of the optic nerves. As this is occurring, the surface ectoderm thickens to form a lens placode, a region visible on the surface of the embryo. This transformation is triggered by the proximity of the optic vesicle, in a typical example of induction. Once the formation of the lens placode has begun, the expanding optic vesicle begins to invaginate to form a cup-shaped structure, and also to fold along its centerline, enclosing a small amount of angiogenic mesenchyme as it does so. On day 32, the retinal disc indents to form the goblet shapd optic cup that will eventually form the retina, whist the optic vesicle has narrowed into a thin optic stalk and is the beginnings of the optic nerve. On the ventral surface of the optic cup, the choriodal fissure transmits the hyaloid vessels into the interior cup. The mesenchyme forms the hyaloid artery and vein, which supply the forming lens; and later, in the fully formed stage will become the central artery and vein of the retina. As the cup invaginates and folds, it is forming two distinct layers. The inner layer of the optic cup will eventually form the retinal tunic, including its light-sensitive elements. The outer layer of the optic cup will form the pigment epithelium layer, which lies outside the sensitive portion. The uveal and corneoscleral tunics eventually will differentiate from the surrounding mesoderm.