Assignment

Please study the following in preparation for our next discussion.

1. Read about neurulation process and study how neural tube, neural crest, somites and
somitomeres are formed.
 Neurulation begins on the third or fourth week of embryonic development which is the
transformation of neural plate into neural tube that will form the spinal cord and brain,
eventually forming the central nervous system.
 On approximately the 18th day of embryonic development, the neural plate deepens
and forms the neural groove. Its margins are increased by the so-called convergent
extension. This means that the cell rows shift into one another and form the neural
folds. The neural folds then merge, cut off the neural groove, and form the neural tube.
This is the basis for the central nervous system.
 The neural crests separate at the closed neural folds. The cells of the neural crest are
very important in embryonic development. Although they originate at the ectoderm,
they are sometimes referred to as the 4th cotyledon. These cells have the ability to
move around and diversify into numerous cell types. They form the glial and nerve cells,
melanocytes of the skin, calcitonin cells of the thyroid gland, cells of the adrenal
medulla, and many of the connective tissue cells and bone cells of the skull.
 In humans, the first somite pair appears at day 20 and adds caudally at 1 somite pair/90
minutes until on average 44 pairs eventually form. A somite is added either side of the
notochord (axial mesoderm) to form a somite pair. The segmentation does not occur in
the head region, and begins cranially (head end) and extends caudally (tailward) adding
a somite pair at regular time intervals. Somites give rise to many different connective
tissues including: cartilage, bone, muscle and tendon.
 The somitomere undergoes morphogenesis that leads to somite formation. There is an
increase in cell density and an increase in the order of cellular arrangement.
Condensation of the somitomere is associated with the obliteration of inter- cellular
space and reorganization of cells into an epithelium.
2. Compare the differentiation of somites and somitomeres.
 Somitomere is in the developing vertebrate embryo, one of the loose masses of paraxial
mesoderm derived cells that form along each side of the neural tube towards the end of
the third gestational week while somite is (embryology) one of the paired masses of
mesoderm distributed along the sides of the neural tube that will eventually become
dermis, skeletal muscle, or vertebrae.
3. Know the role of neural crest cells in the developing embryo.
 The neural crest produces neural crest cells (NCCs), which become multiple different cell
types and contribute to tissues and organs as an embryo develops.
4. Study the process of organogenesis.
*Note: No need to turn in your work.