The role of the node in maintaining axial progenitors
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The production of the vertebrate body axis involves the coordinating activity of the organizer, which coincides in amniotes with the node in the gastrulating embryo. This organizer orchestrates nearby axial progenitor populations that produce the spinal cord and musculoskeleton. Various findings, discussed further in this review, suggest that some of these axial progenitors exhibit stem cell-like properties as they display maintenance behaviour such as self-renewal and sustained contribution to derivative tissues. We consider how the node acts to maintain and regulate these progenitor populations by providing mechanical forces and a niche-like signalling environment. • The Spemann-Mangold organizer during gastrulation is coincident with notochord progenitors • Mouse notochord progenitors lie in the node near neuromesodermal progenitors, which form neurectoderm and mesoderm • Ablation of notochord progenitors results in a truncated axis, suggesting they maintain neuromesodermal progenitors • A combination of mechanical and signalling cues likely governs axis elongation
Source: Cells and Development
Authors: Raffee Wright, Valerie Wilson
Institutions: MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,450
OpenAlex ID: W4407479500