Rapid expansion of the brain of early embryos begins shortly after the neural tube is established by the process of neurulation. Concomitantly, the lumen of most of the length of the spinal cord becomes occluded; that is, the lateral walls of the cord come into apposition, temporarily obliterating the lumen. Neural tube fluid pressure is required for normal expansion of the brain and we hypothesize that occlusion has an important role in brain expansion by localizing and confining neural tube fluid to principally brain regions. The objectives of this proposed project are to determine when and where occulusion and reopening of the spinal cord occur, what structural changes characterize these processes, how occlusion and reopening occur and whether brain enlargement is normal in embryos containing open neural tube defects (myeloschisis) caudal to the area of occlusion. By meeting these objectives, our understanding of the early morphogenesis of the brain of normal embryos will be greatly enhanced, and insight should be gained into how morphogenesis can go awry, resulting in certain major anomalies of the central nervous system.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD018143-03
Application #
3315130
Study Section
Human Embryology and Development Subcommittee 2 (HED)
Project Start
1983-09-01
Project End
1987-08-31
Budget Start
1985-09-01
Budget End
1987-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1985
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Utah
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
City
Salt Lake City
State
UT
Country
United States
Zip Code
84112
Desmond, M E; Field, M C (2000) Isolation of neuroepithelium and formation of minispheres. Methods Mol Biol 136:179-84
Desmond, M E; Haas, P A (2000) Experimental manipulation and morphometric analysis of neural tube development. Methods Mol Biol 136:167-78
Schoenwolf, G C; Folsom, D; Moe, A (1988) A reexamination of the role of microfilaments in neurulation in the chick embryo. Anat Rec 220:87-102
Schoenwolf, G C; Powers, M L (1987) Shaping of the chick neuroepithelium during primary and secondary neurulation: role of cell elongation. Anat Rec 218:182-95
Smith, J L; Schoenwolf, G C (1987) Cell cycle and neuroepithelial cell shape during bending of the chick neural plate. Anat Rec 218:196-206
Fineman, R M; Schoenwolf, G C (1987) Animal model: dysmorphogenesis and death in a chicken embryo model. Am J Med Genet 27:543-52
Pacheco, M A; Marks, R W; Schoenwolf, G C et al. (1986) Quantification of the initial phases of rapid brain enlargement in the chick embryo. Am J Anat 175:403-11
Schoenwolf, G C; Desmond, M E (1986) Timing and positioning of reopening of the occluded spinal neurocele in the chick embryo. J Comp Neurol 246:459-66
Desmond, M E; Schoenwolf, G C (1986) Evaluation of the roles of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in occlusion of the spinal neurocoel during rapid brain enlargement in the chick embryo. J Embryol Exp Morphol 97:25-46
Fineman, R M; Schoenwolf, G C; Huff, M et al. (1986) Causes of windowing-induced dysmorphogenesis (neural tube defects and early amnion deficit spectrum) in chicken embryos. Am J Med Genet 25:489-505

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