美国普林斯顿大学Laurence A. Lemaire，Michael S. Levine和日本甲南大学Takehiro G. Kusakabe共同合作，近期取得重要工作进展。他们研究发现了原脊椎动物模型Ciona的神经嵴谱系。相关研究成果2024年10月23日在线发表于《自然》杂志上。

据介绍，神经嵴细胞是多能祖细胞，产生脊椎动物的决定性特征，如“新头部”。

研究人员使用被膜动物Ciona来探索神经嵴的演化起源，因为这种无脊椎脊索动物是脊椎动物现存的近亲之一。之前的研究在Ciona中发现了两种潜在的神经嵴细胞类型，即感觉色素细胞和双极尾部神经元。最近的研究结果表明，双极尾神经元与颅感觉神经节同源，而不是神经嵴的衍生物。

研究人员发现色素细胞谱系也会产生神经祖细胞，在变态后形成幼年神经系统的区域。神经祖细胞也是脊椎动物神经嵴的主要衍生物，这表明被膜动物和脊椎动物的最后一个共同祖先在神经板边缘包含一个多能祖细胞群体。

因此，在脊椎动物出现之前，神经嵴的多能性特性似乎就已经存在。

附：英文原文

Title: Neural crest lineage in the protovertebrate model Ciona

Author: Todorov, Lauren G., Oonuma, Kouhei, Kusakabe, Takehiro G., Levine, Michael S., Lemaire, Laurence A.

Issue&Volume: 2024-10-23

Abstract: Neural crest cells are multipotent progenitors that produce defining features of vertebrates such as the ‘new head’1. Here we use the tunicate, Ciona, to explore the evolutionary origins of neural crest since this invertebrate chordate is among the closest living relatives of vertebrates2,3,4. Previous studies identified two potential neural crest cell types in Ciona, sensory pigment cells and bipolar tail neurons5,6. Recent findings suggest that  bipolar tail neurons are homologous to cranial sensory ganglia rather than derivatives of neural crest7,8. Here we show that the pigment cell lineage also produces neural progenitor cells that form regions of the juvenile nervous system following metamorphosis. Neural progenitors are also a major derivative of neural crest in vertebrates, suggesting that the last common ancestor of tunicates and vertebrates contained a multipotent progenitor population at the neural plate border. It would therefore appear that a key property of neural crest, multipotentiality, preceded the emergence of vertebrates.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08111-7

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08111-7