Neural Crest

Early in the process of development, vertebrate embryos develop a fold on the neural plate [6] where the neural and epidermal ectoderms meet, called the neural crest [7]. The neural crest [7] produces neural crest cells [8] (NCCs), which become multiple different cell types and contribute to tissues and organs as an embryo develops. A few of the organs and tissues include peripheral and enteric (gastrointestinal) neurons and glia [9], pigment cells, cartilage and bone of the cranium and face, and smooth muscle. The diversity of NCCs that the neural crest [7] produces has led researchers to propose the neural crest [7] as a fourth germ layer, or one of the primary cellular structures in early embryos from which all adult tissues and organs arise. Furthermore, evolutionary biologists study the neural crest [7] because it is a novel shared evolutionary character (synapomorphy) of all vertebrates.