The Functional Role(s) of Neurofibromin During Neural Crest Cell Development

Abstract

The purpose of the studies to date have been to A) produce and maintain a colony of heterozygote neurofibromin (Nf(sup +/-) in order to produce timed-pregnant neurofibromin knockout (Nf(sup -/-)) embryos. (B) assess the ability of in vitro and in situ studies in order to quantitate the survival, proliferation, migration and differentiation of neural crest cells derived from wild type (Nf(sup +/+)), Nf(sup +/-) and Nf(sup -/-) embryos. To achieve the aim in A, I have mated Nf(sup +/-) male mice with wild type mice to generate a colony of Nf(sup +/-) mice. This has proven more effective than directly mating male/female Nf(sup +/-) mice because Nf(sup +/-) have a greater tendency to cannibalize their litters versus wild-type females, With regards to B) I have firstly found it necessary to pair breeding mice during the day during a precise time window in order to accurately obtain embryonic day 9 (EB) time pregnant embryos. This is due to the narrow/transient time window of early NCC development in mice. Secondly, preliminary experiments strongly suggest that it is not feasible to the analysis neural crest development derived from individual embryos using a tissue culture paradigm but rather to use a in system whereby the NCC are analyzed directly in the embryo (in situ).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADA398169

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  • Peter G. Bannerman

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  • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

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  • Biology

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