The fate of neural crest stem cells: Nature vs nurture

Abstract

Neural crest stem cells (NCSC) give rise to the adrenal medullary chromaffin cells, the dorsal root ganglia, autonomic ganglia, cranial nerve ganglia, enteric ganglia, Schwann cells, satellite cells, and some non-neural tissue. Prior to the onset of migration of NCSCs single dorsal neural tube cells can give rise to both CNS neural stem cells and neural crest derivatives, suggesting that their fate is not yet sealed. The paper summarizes the extrinsic and intrinsic factors that participate in the lineage determination of NCSCs.