Development of the Eye, Ear, and Olfactory Mucosa Flashcards
When does development of the eye begin, and in what region?
Begins in the 4th week, during sagittal head folding. Anterior neural plate (prosencephalon) region
Why does cyclopia occur?
Failure to dvelop the ventral midline portion of the prosencephalon, so the eyes develop in close proximity. It is due to a defect in sonic hedgehog
What are optic grooves?
First noticeable in neural plate at about 3 weeks, they form when cells in eye field infold. When the two sides actually fuse, it makes the optic vesicles
What are optic vesicles?
An invagination on the lateral surface of the diencephalon which after fusion (due to folding) becomes the optic vesicles.
What is anophthalmia?
Failure of optic vesicle formation so no eyes develop
What is the lens placode?
Surface ectoderm that is induced into a lens placode (specialized cells) outside of the optic vesicles. This is the earliest evidence of induction
What happens if induction of lens placode fails?
Congenital aphakia
What is the fate of the lens placode in folding?
It pinches off the surface ectoderm to form the lens vesicle
How is the optic cup formed?
Infolding of optic vesicle around the lens vesicle. It remains connected to the forebrain via the optic stalk
What forms the choroid fissure?
The ventral side of the optic stalk has an opening due to the fact that it infolds on itself. Inferiorly it contains the hyaloid vessels which nourish the developing lens. This fissure is an opening from the inner layer of the optic stalk infolding (I think the inner layer is the bottom layer when pictured in cross section from rostral to caudal)
What does the inner layer of the optic cup form?
The neural retina. Ganglion cell axons will grow towards the diencephalon
What does the inner layer of the optic stalk form?
It initially encircles the hyaloid vessels, and will thus form the optic nerve. This makes sense because the hyaloid vessels which nourish the lens are actually the precursor to the central retinal artery
What does the outer layer of the optic stalk + optic cup form?
They fuse to produce radial symmetry of the eye.
Outer layer of optic cuup becomes retinal pigment epithelium
How do the hyaloid vessels become trapped?
When the inner layer of the optic cup fuses to become central retinal artery and vein
What happens if the optic cup fails to seal the choroid fissure?
A coloboma, or hole, in any of the tissue derived from it. Most common from inner layer fusion failure leading to iris coloboma