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Editorial
. 2018 Feb;154(3):478-480.
doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2018.01.012. Epub 2018 Jan 11.

Development of the Enteric Nervous System: A Genetic Guide to the Perplexed

Michael D Gershon  1
Affiliations
Editorial

Development of the Enteric Nervous System: A Genetic Guide to the Perplexed

Michael D Gershon. Gastroenterology. 2018 Feb.
No abstract available

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Colonization of the bowel by precursors derived from the neural crest. All of the precursor cells that give rise to the ENS migrate to the gut from the neural crest. Although only the vagal crest is illustrated, the postumbilical bowel is also colonized by émigrés from the sacral crest and by Schwann cells that enter the lower gut with extrinsic nerves. All of these enteric crest-derived cells (ENCDC) ultimately develop as neurons and glia within the bowel. Although the original population in the premigratory crest is heterogeneous, the ENCDC population, as a whole, is plastic and responsive to microenvironmental signals the ENCDCs enounter while migrating to the gut, within the bowel, and in their final sites of residence in ENS ganglia. Microenvironmental signals include growth factors and extracellular matrix components that drive ENCDC proliferation, differentiation, and finally, assembly of the microcircuits of the ENS. ENCDC are also influenced by their intrinsic transcription factors that regulate neurogenesis from stem cells, as well as neuronal specification and/or differentiation.
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References

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