Fig. 5. CNIC^C89-transfected ectoderm cells fail to express Slug and HNK-1, and do not delaminate from the ectoderm. Electroporation of GFP (I-L) or CNIC^C89 (A-H and M-P) was performed on stage 6 embryo, and the embryos were cultured for 7 hours (A-F), or 24 hours (G-P). (A-F) A CNIC^C89-transfected neural fold (ipsilateral, D-F) and an untransfected neural fold (contralateral, A-C) of the same embryo, stained with anti-Flag (FITC, green), anti-Slug (cy3, red) and DAPI (blue). In the contralateral neural fold, many Slug-positive premigratory neural crest nuclei are observed (A,C). By contrast, in the ipsilateral side, the number of Slug-positive nuclei is reduced (D). Many Flag-positive nuclei of CNIC^C89-transfected cells can be identified (E), and most of the Flag-positive nuclei do not possess Slug-immunoreactivity (D-F, arrowheads). (G,H) Whole-mount HNK-1 staining of a CNIC^C89-transfected embryo. Compared with the contralateral side (G), migrating neural crest cells are severely reduced in the CNIC^C89-transfected side (H, black arrows in midbrain-forebrain level and black arrowheads in branchial arches). Strong HNK-1 staining indicated by white asterisks is in the axial mesoderm. ba2, second branchial arch; ba3, third branchial arch; e, eye; op, otic placode. (I-L) GFP-transfected HNK-1-positive neural crest cells migrate laterally underneath the epidermis (I,J, arrowheads), and colonize the branchial arch (K,L, arrowheads). (M,N) CNIC^C89-transfected cells failed to delaminate from the ectoderm. Note that CNIC^C89-transfected neural fold sometimes fails to close. (O,P) In the contralateral side of the CNIC^C89-transfected embryo, HNK-1-positive neural crest cells normally colonize the branchial arch (P).

Return to article