Isolation and Characterization of Neural Crest Subpopulations

该项目的长期目标是了解神经嵴细胞亚群在胚胎发育过程中如何分化为特定类型的成熟神经元。哪些遗传和其他因素在起作用？巴拉德博士和她的同事已经在小鸡和鹌鹑胚胎的神经嵴中发现了具有不同生化特性的细胞亚群。他们已经为这些不同的亚群开发了标记，并开发了分离这些细胞类型同时保持它们存活的技术。他们现在可以在培养中培养这些亚群，并表征它们对各种调节因子的反应，以及检查在细胞分化中重要的各种基因的相互作用。通过使用这些方法，Barald博士的研究小组将能够回答以下问题：从神经嵴衍生的神经元群体何时确定，从而从嵴谱系中的其他细胞中分离出来？确定状态的表达式是塑性的吗？它能被体内或体外的环境信号所改变吗？

The long-range objective of this project is to understand how subpopulations of neural crest cells differentiate into specific types of mature neurons during embryonic development. What genetic and other factors are at work? Dr. Barald and her coworkers have identified subpopulations of cells in the neural crest of chick and quail embryos with different biochemical properties. They have developed markers for these different subpopulations and techniques for separating these cell types while keeping them alive. They can now grow these subpopulations in culture and characterize their responses to a variety of regulatory factors as well as to examine the interaction of various genes important in cellular differentiation. By employing these methods, Dr. Barald's group will be able to answer the following questions: When does a neuronal population that is derived from the neural crest become determined, and therefore segregated from other cells in the crest lineage? Is the expression of the determined state plastic? Can it be modified by environmental cues in vivo or in vitro?