ABSTRACT
The vertebrate nervous system represents a highly compartmentalized but interconnected network that regulates most other organ systems. Development and maintenance of this complex system requires an interplay of numerous intrinsic and extrinsic signals that culminates in a transcriptional response. All neuron and glial cells in the mature nervous system are derived from a pseudostratified neural epithelium whose formation is initiated on embryonic day 6.5 (E6.5) during gastrulation with formation of the neural plate in the mouse embryo. The neural plate then buckles at its midline to form the neural fold and a floor plate forms at the midline that remains in contact with the underlying notochord. The neural tube forms when the tips of the neural folds fuse. Cells in the region of the fusion form the roof plate.
