The migratory behavior of immature enteric neurons

Abstract

While they are migrating caudally along the developing gut, around i0%-20% of enteric neural crest-derived cells start to express pan-neuronal markers and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). We used explants of gut from embryonic TH-green fluorescence protein (GFP) mice and time-lapse microscopy to examine whether these Immature enteric neurons migrate and their mode of migration. In the gut of E10.5 and E11.5 TH-GFP mice, around 50% of immature enteric neurons (GFP + cells) migrated, with an average speed of around 15 μm/h. This is slower than the speed at which the population of enteric neural crest-derived cells advances along the developing gut, and hence neuronal differentiation seems to slow, b..