Development of the Enteric Nervous System

Abstract

Enteric neurons and glial cells arise from neural crest cells, most of which emigrate from the caudal hindbrain ("vagal" level) and then migrate into and along the developing gastrointestinal tract. There are also minor contributions from sacral neural crest cells and from Schwann cell precursors, which are associated with the axons of extrinsic neurons and give rise to some neurons after birth. The migration of enteric neural crest-derived cells is influenced by proliferation, cell-cell contact, neuronal differentiation, vascular endothelial cells, interactions with the extracellular matrix, dietary Vitamin A and by a large number of signaling pathways, the most important of which is the GD..