Lecture 16: Germ Layer and Gastrulation Flashcards
What is morphogenesis?
Process that gives rise to the shapes and forms of tissue and organs
What are the 3 axes? When do they become apparent?
- Cranial/caudal axis (anterior/posterior) 2. Dorsal/ventral axis 3. Left/right axis
What are the 3 parts of the primitive streak?
- Pit 2. Node 3. Groove
What is the direction of formation of the primitive streak?
Caudal to cranial
What part of the amniotic cavity becomes the anus?
Cloacal membrane
What part of the amniotic cavity becomes the membrane between the primitive mouth and the pharynx?
Buccopharyngeal membrane
Why are certain organs on the left of the body? (4 steps)
- Cells nearest the primitive groove and pit produce special chemical substances known as nodal (proteins) 2. Cilia on the ectoderm create proper currents to direct the nodal to the left (lateral) side of the bilaminar disk 3. Sonic hedgehog (SHH) and FGF-8 diffuse to the left axis and activate nodal protein on the left axis (right side nodal is not activated) 4. Heart, spleen, stomach, and gut are on the left (lungs are different on the left)
What happens during gastrulation? 5 steps
- Epiblast cells on the central axis begin proliferating (dividing like cray)
- Primitive streak forms.
- Cells in neighboring area proliferate rapidly and migrate into the primitive groove and pit
- Epiblast cells move down (ingression) and spread laterally pushing the hypoblast cells to the side (which degenerate) and replacing them to form the endoderm. As they ingress they undergo major structural, physiological, and organizational changes
- Once the bottom layer is replaced, another layer of epiblast cells slide in between the top and bottom layers to form the mesoderm. The top layer is the ectoderm
Where does gastrulation take place?
At the bilaminar disk
What are the 2 basic outcomes of gastrulation?
- Axes 2. Germ layers
What is the basic function of the notochord?
To signal overlying dorsal ectoderm to differentiate into neural plate tissue
When is the bilaminar disk formed?
Week 2 of gastrulation
What is the bilaminar disk?
The layer of epiblast and hypoblast cells that divides the amniotic cavity from the secondary/definitive yolk sac
Describe the formation of the notochord (4 steps)
- Once all 3 germ layers have formed, cells from the mesoderm migrate through the primitive node to the cranial end of the bilaminar disk and create a tubular structure = notochordal process
- The notochordal process advances caudally to the prechordal plate
- The floor of the notochord process fuses with the endoderm bringing it in contact with the underlying yolk sac fluids (full of micro-RNA). The notochordal process becomes the notochordal plate in this state (with the neurenteric canal under it)
- The proliferating cells create a solid mass of notochordal cells called the definitive notochord
When do the neural tube’s ends fuse?
Anterior neuropore: day 25 of gastrulation Posteriar neuropore: day 27 of gastrulation
What does true gut endoderm arise from?
Ectoderm
In what direction does the neural plate develop? What happens during this?
Cranially-caudally
The primitive streak regresses crannially-caudally
What is the one organ that is generated from 2 different germ layers?
Adrenal glands come from both the ectoderm (adrenal medulla) and the mesoderm (adrenal cortex)
What is the difference between the extraembryonic mesoderm and the embryonic mesoderm? What is the one thing they have in common?
Extraembryonic is formed prior to gastrulation Embryonic forms as a result of gastrulation and makes up the proper embryo They are both derived from the epiblast
What does ingression mean?
The migration of individual cells from a surface layer into the interior of the embryo: epithelial to mesenchymal transformation
What do cancer and embryonic cells have in common?
They both undergo ingression, but the cancer cells do not know how to manipulate the cell-cell adhesion properties that regulate ingression
What makes ingression possible?
The cells on the surface layer alter their cell-cell adhesion properties
What determines what the cells migrating away from the primitive streak become?
The caudal/cranial location of the cells moving through the primitive streak
What prevent the mesoderm from aggregating too soon?
The embryonic epiblasts secrete hyaluronic acid into the space between the ecto and endoderms
What enhances the ability of the mesoderm cells to walk on a substrate?
Fibronectin on the basal side of the ectoderm (the substrate) allowing for spreading and convergent extension
What do we call the epiblast when cells are moving away from the primitive streak?
The embryonic primitive ectoderm
What happens to the mesoderm once it has filled most of the space between the ectoderm and the endoderm? What does this allow?
The cells travel through a mechanism called spreading/convergent extension by which they intercalate to narrow the tissue and move the entire bulk of the tissue forward. This allows the embryo to grow lengthwise.
What is Kartagener’s syndrome caused by? What is the result? Prevalence?
CAUSE: The cilia on the ectoderm near the primitive node are abnormal and immotile (issues with dynein arm), which allows Shh and FGF-8 to diffuse to the right side and activate nodal
RESULTS: embryonic lethality or situs inversus (all/some of the embryo’s organs are reversed)
Prevalence = 1:10,000 births
What are the 3 parts of the mesoderm that differentiate during notochord process formation? Through what process do they differentiate?
- Paraxial 2. Intermediate 3. Lateral plate
Stochastic process (random) + cell signals
Label the embryonic mesoderm in this diagram
Top: Paraxial
Middle: Intermediate
Bottom: Lateral Plate
Label the lateral plate mesoderm in this diagram
Top: Somatopleuric mesoderm
Bottom: Splanchnopleuric mesoderm
Label the embryonic mesoderm in this diagram
What is the invagination of the overlying ectoderm by the notochord caused by?
Signals sent out by the notochord to alter the cytoskeletal components of the cells
What are the 3 factors that influence gastrulation to occur? What are these called?
- Morphogen diffusion
- ECM of cells in contact (usually involving adhesion molecules in between cells)
- Direct cell-cell contact
What is the difference between gastrulation and morphogenesis?
Differentiation happens at the cell level vs morphogenesis happens at the tissue level
What is the role of hyaluronic acid in spreading the mesoderm? What is it secreted by?
It prevents early aggregation of the mesoderm and is secreted by the epiblast
What is another name for the bilaminar disk?
The germ disk
What are the 3 parts of the germ disk?
- Buccophyaryngeal membrane
- Cloacal membrane
- Primitive streak
In what other cells does ingression happen?
Cancer cells
When do you start calling the epiblast the ectoderm?
After the neural plate and the neural tube have formed