First published online January 14, 2005
Development 132, 301e (2005)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
A tale of caudal musculature
During avian and mammalian embryogenesis, the cloaca forms a common opening
to the digestive, urinary and reproductive systems, which, in mammals,
subsequently develops into separate openings to each system. Valasek and
co-workers now reveal that the skeletal muscles surrounding the cloaca develop
from leg muscle cells in both chicks and mice (see
p. 447). The
researchers show that chick cloacal muscle originates from somites 30-34, a
domain that overlaps the one giving rise to leg muscles. By marker gene
analysis, they show that chick and mouse cloacal muscles derive from the
ventral muscle mass of the hind limb. Further labelling, genetic and surgical
experiments lead the researchers to conclude that in both species (and
presumably humans), myogenic precursors migrate from the somites into the
pelvic limb, where they extend towards the midline, only then differentiating
into cloacal/perineal muscles.
Related articles in Development:
- A dual fate of the hindlimb muscle mass: cloacal/perineal musculature develops from leg muscle cells
- Petr Valasek, Darrell J. R. Evans, Flavio Maina, Milos Grim, and Ketan Patel
Development 2005 132: 447-458.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
