3RD WEEK OF DEVELOPMENT

GASTRULATION, PRIMITIVE
STREAK AND NOTOCHORD

By
Dr. Surriyya Sarwat
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 At the end of lecture students should be able
to:
 Define the gastrulation (formation of three
germ layers).
 Discuss the development of primitive streak
and related congenital anomalies.
(Sacrococcygeal Teratoma)
 Describe the development of notochordal
process, notochord canal, prechordal plate and
cloacal membrane.
 GASTRULATION
 Gasrtulation is the
process which
establishes the
formation of three germ
layered embryo:
 – Ectoderm
 – Mesoderm
 – Endoderm
• Formation of trilaminar
embryonic disc by day
21.
Process of Gastrulation
 Extensive cell shape changes, rearrangement,
movement and changes in adhesive
properties contribute to the process of
gastrulation— beginning of morphogenesis.
 Factors:
 Bone morphogenetic protein
 FGFs
 Shh gene
 Wnts
 THE THREE GERM LAYERS
 The three germ layers
are the derivatives of
epiblast
 The three germ layers
give rise to all the
tissues and organs of
the body.
 DEVELOPMENT OF MESODERM
 Paraxial mesoderm
 Intermediate
mesoderm
 Lateral mesoderm
Notochord development:
 In the human, the notochord is a cellular rod
that develops from the prochordal process and
forms the first longitudinal midline axis around
which the vertebral bodies are organized and is
the basis for the axial skeleton.
 It will later regress. By day 12 or 13,
the notochord is visible throughout the length
of the embryo and around it are layered
concentrations of cells, representing the
primordia of the future vertebral bodies
STAGE OF THE NOTOCHORDAL PROCESS
 Entire area cephalic to
the primitive streak):
about day 17:
 The floor of
the notochordal
process fuses with the
underlying endoderm
as it undergoes
preferential growth.
 Hensen's node seems
to recede toward the
caudal end
 PROCHORDAL STAGE:
 Degeneration of the fused region takes place, and
openings appear in the floor of the notochordal
process (resorption of the floor), opening a
communication between the yolk sac and
the notochordal canal, a lumen which is formed as
the primitive pit extends into the notochordal
process during its development
 The openings become confluent, and the floor of
the notochordal canal disappears.
 A small passage, the neurenteric canal, temporarily
connects the yolk sac and the amniotic cavity
 NOTOCHORD STAGE: about day 20
 The notochord process
remains and forms a
grooved, flattened plate,
the notochordal plate,
which, beginning at its
cranial end, infolds to form
the notochord.
 Embryonic endoderm again
forms a continuous layer
below the notochord
 The latter is thus the
primary skeleton of the 3-
layer embryo
Development of Notochord
PARAXIAL MESODERM
 Thick plate of
mesoderm located
on each side of
midline
 Becomes
organized into
segments called
somatomeres in
cranio-caudal
sequence.
INTERMEDIATE MESODERM

 Longitudinal dorsal ridge of mesoderm

located between paraxial and lateral
mesoderm
 This ridge forms the Urogenital ridge
 Urogenital ridge forms the future kidneys
and gonads
LATERAL MESODERM
 Thin plate of mesoderm located along the
lateral side of embryo.
 Large spaces develop in the lateral plate
mesoderm and coalesce to form
intraembryonic coelom
 Intraembryonic coelom divides lateral
mesoderm into:
 Intraembryonic somatic mesoderm
 Intraembryonic visceral mesoderm
 During development, the notochord
degenerate and form the:
a) Centrum
b) Nucleus pulposus
c) Annulus fibrose
d) Intervertebral disc
e) Vertebral arch
 Myoblasts from the occipital myotomes are
believed to give rise to the muscles of the:
a) Eye
b) face
c) ear
d) jaw for mastication
e) tongue