Acquisition of neuronal and glial markers by neural crest-derived cells in the mouse intestine

Abstract

Enteric neurons and glia arise from the neural crest. The phenotype of crest-derived cells was examined as they differentiated into neurons or glia in the mouse small and large intestine. Previous studies have shown that undifferentiated enteric crest-derived cells are Phox2b+/Ret+/p75+/Sox10+, and at embryonic day (E) 10.5, about 10-15% of the crest-derived cells in the small intestine have started to differentiate into neurons. In the current study, by E12.5 and E14.5, about 25% and 47%, respectively, of Phox2b+ cells in the small intestine were immunoreactive to the pan-neuronal protein, ubitquitin hydrolase (PGP9.5), and the percentage did not change dramatically from E14.5 onward. The d..