Paraxial mesoderm, also known as presomitic or somitic mesoderm is the area of mesoderm in the neurulating

embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

that flanks and forms simultaneously with the

neural tube In the developing chordate (including vertebrates), the neural tube is the embryonic precursor to the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain and spinal cord. The neural groove gradually deepens as the neural fold become elevated, ...

. The cells of this region give rise to

somite The somites (outdated term: primitive segments) are a set of bilaterally paired blocks of paraxial mesoderm that form in the embryonic stage of somitogenesis, along the head-to-tail axis in segmented animals. In vertebrates, somites subdivide ...

s, blocks of tissue running along both sides of the neural tube, which form

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

and the tissues of the back, including connective tissue and the dermis.

Formation and somitogenesis

The paraxial and other regions of the mesoderm are thought to be specified by bone morphogenetic proteins, or BMPs, along an axis spanning from the center to the sides of the body. Members of the FGF family also play an important role, as does the WNT pathway. In particular,

Noggin Noggin may refer to: General * Noggin or gill (volume), a unit of volume * Noggin (cup), a small cup * Noggin, slang for head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, an ...

, a downstream target of the Wnt pathway, antagonizes BMP signaling, forming boundaries where antagonists meet and limiting this signaling to a particular region of the mesoderm. Together, these pathways provide the initial specification of the paraxial mesoderm and maintain this identity. This specification process has now been fully recapitulated ''in vitro'' with the formation of paraxial mesoderm progenitors from

pluripotent stem cells Pluripotency: These are the cells that can generate into any of the three Germ layers which imply Endodermal, Mesodermal, and Ectodermal cells except tissues like the placenta. According to Latin terms, Pluripotentia means the ability for many thin ...

, using a

directed differentiation Directed differentiation is a bioengineering methodology at the interface of stem cell biology, developmental biology and tissue engineering. It is essentially harnessing the potential of stem cells by constraining their differentiation in vitro t ...

approach. The tissue undergoes convergent extension as the primitive streak regresses, or as the embryo gastrulates. The notochord extends from the base of the head to the tail; with it extend thick bands of paraxial mesoderm. As the primitive streak continues to regress, somites form from the paraxial mesoderm by "budding off" rostrally. In certain model systems, it has been shown that the daughter cells of stem cell-like progenitor cells which come from the primitive streak or site of gastrulation migrate out and localize in the posterior paraxial mesoderm. As the primitive streak regresses and somites bud off anteriorly, new cells derived from these stem-cell like precursors constantly enter the posterior end of the paraxial mesoderm.

Derived tissues

Many kinds of tissue derive from the segmented paraxial mesoderm by means of the somite. Among these are: *the

sclerotome The somites (outdated term: primitive segments) are a set of bilaterally paired blocks of paraxial mesoderm that form in the embryonic stage of somitogenesis, along the head-to-tail axis in segmented animals. In vertebrates, somites subdivide ...

, which forms cartilage, *the syndetome, which forms tendons, *the

myotome A myotome is the group of muscles that a single spinal nerve innervates. Similarly a dermatome is an area of skin that a single nerve innervates with sensory fibers. Myotomes are separated by myosepta (singular: myoseptum). In vertebrate embryon ...

, which forms skeletal muscle, *the

dermatome Dermatome may refer to: * Dermatome (anatomy), an area of skin that is supplied by a single pair of dorsal roots * Dermatome (embryology), the portion of the embryonic paraxial mesoderm, the somite, which gives rise to dermis * Dermatome (instrument ...

, which forms the dermis as well as skeletal muscle, *and

endothelial The endothelium is a single layer of squamous endothelial cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels. The endothelium forms an interface between circulating blood or lymph in the lumen and the rest of the vessel ...

cells.

Head mesoderm

A particular kind of tissue deriving from the paraxial mesoderm is the head mesoderm. This tissue derives from the unsegmented paraxial mesoderm and prechordal mesoderm. Tissues derived from the head mesoderm include connective tissue and the muscles of the face. The head mesoderm forms through a separate signaling circuit than the segmented paraxial mesoderm, though also involving BMP and

fibroblast growth factor Fibroblast growth factors (FGF) are a family of cell signalling proteins produced by macrophages; they are involved in a wide variety of processes, most notably as crucial elements for normal development in animal cells. Any irregularities in their ...

(FGF) signaling. Here,

retinoic acid Retinoic acid (used simplified here for all-''trans''-retinoic acid) is a metabolite of vitamin A1 (all-''trans''-retinol) that mediates the functions of vitamin A1 required for growth and development. All-''trans''-retinoic acid is required in ...

interacts with these pathways.

References

External links

Overview at nih.gov

Diagram at lww.com
{{Authority control Embryology Mesoderm

Formation and somitogenesis

Derived tissues

Head mesoderm

See also

References

External links