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Vertebrate cranial mesoderm: developmental trajectory and evolutionary origin

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Abstract

Vertebrate cranial mesoderm is a discrete developmental unit compared to the mesoderm below the developing neck. An extraordinary feature of the cranial mesoderm is that it includes a common progenitor pool contributing to the chambered heart and the craniofacial skeletal muscles. This striking developmental potential and the excitement it generated led to advances in our understanding of cranial mesoderm developmental mechanism. Remarkably, recent findings have begun to unravel the origin of its distinct developmental characteristics. Here, we take a detailed view of the ontogenetic trajectory of cranial mesoderm and its regulatory network. Based on the emerging evidence, we propose that cranial and posterior mesoderm diverge at the earliest step of the process that patterns the mesoderm germ layer along the anterior–posterior body axis. Further, we discuss the latest evidence and their impact on our current understanding of the evolutionary origin of cranial mesoderm. Overall, the review highlights the findings from contemporary research, which lays the foundation to probe the molecular basis of unique developmental potential and evolutionary origin of cranial mesoderm.

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Notes

  1. *Studies in Ciona suggest that evolutionary precursors of neural crest and placode were already present in the ancestors of olfactores [3, 154, 155]. These reports provide reason to refine the idea of novelty of the embryonic cell types.

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  1. Bhakti Vyas and Nitya Nandkishore contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, GKVK Campus, Bellary Road, Bengaluru, 560065, India

    Bhakti Vyas & Nitya Nandkishore

  2. Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, 576104, India

    Bhakti Vyas

  3. SASTRA University, Thirumalaisamudram, Thanjavur, 613401, India

    Nitya Nandkishore

  4. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati, Transit Campus, Karakambadi Road, Rami Reddy Nagar, Mangalam, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, 517507, India

    Ramkumar Sambasivan

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Vyas, B., Nandkishore, N. & Sambasivan, R. Vertebrate cranial mesoderm: developmental trajectory and evolutionary origin. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 77, 1933–1945 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-019-03373-1

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