The Neural Crest in Development and Evolution

The neural crest cells are very important during vertebrate development as they give rise to cartilage, nerve cells and pigmented cells. This book provides an overview of the neural crest and neural crest cells. It is useful to scientists and students who wish to come to grips with the growth in research in this area.

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This book is about the neural crest and neural crest cells, dealing with their discovery, their embryological and evolutionary origins, their cellular derivatives - in both agnathan and jawed vertebrates or gnathostomes - and the broad topics of migration and differentiation in normal development. Knowledge of the development and evolution of the neural crest sheds light on many of the oldest unanswered questions in developmental biology, such as: What is the role of the germ layers in early embryogenesis? How does the nervous systems develop? How does the vertebrate head arise developmentally and how did it arise evolutionary? How do growth factors and Hox genes direct cell differentiation and embryonic patterning? Cells from the neural crest are also associated with many developmental abnormalities. The book includes discussions of what goes wrong when development is misdirected by mutations, or by exposure of embryos to exogenous agents such as drugs, alcohol, or excess vitamin A. The book also includes discussions of tumors (neurocristopathies) and syndromes and birth defects involving neural crest cells.