Migration and proliferation of neural crest cells in the dorsal root ganglion

• Grant number: 23/03420-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Embryology
• Principal Investigator: Chao Yun Irene Yan
• Grantee: Nicoly Eda da Silva Alves
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The dorsal root ganglion (DRG) is a component of the peripheral nervous system located bilaterally to the spinal cord. Inside it can be found glial cells and several subtypes of sensory neurons - namely: mechanoceptive, proprioceptive and nociceptive. These neurons are responsible for the transmission of somatosensory stimuli from organs and limbs to the central nervous system. In the mature DRG, they are distributed in different regions. All DRG neuronal and glia subtypes are formed from neural crest cells that delaminate from the neural tube through the truncal region and migrate ventromedially through the somatic mesoderm. However, little is known about the events between the aggregation of neural crest cells in the DRG and the final location of sensory lineages in ganglionic subdomains, so that spatial segregation may be a precedent or a consequence of sensory differentiation. With this, we seek to define in embryo whether neural crest cells have their location predetermined in the DRG or whether their distribution is defined after the end of the cell cycle. For this, we will use immunofluorescence techniques to detect molecular markers characteristic of different stages of differentiation.