Mesenchyme

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesenchyme This page was last modified on 2 April 2010 at 22:23.

Mesenchyme

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mesenchyme, or mesenchymal connective tissue, is an example of reticular connective tissue, a type of loose connective tissue, which is derived from all three germ layers and located within the embryo .^[1] Mesenchyme is characterized morphologically by a prominent ground substance matrixcontaining a loose aggregate of reticular fibrils and unspecialized cells.^[2] The cells are capable of developing into connective tissue, bone, cartilage, thelymphatic system, and the circulatory system.^[3]^[4]

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EctomesenchymeEctomesenchyme has similar properties to mesenchyme. The major difference is that ectomesenchyme is usually considered to arise from neural crest cells,^[5] which are a critical group of cells that form in the cranial region during early vertebrate development. Thus, ectomesenchyme plays a critical role in the formation of the hard and soft tissues of the head and neck such as bones, muscles and most importantly the branchial arches.

Mesenchyme with a typical cell and ground substance

References

^ Loose connective tissue
^ Mesenchymal tissue
^ Strum, Judy M.; Gartner, Leslie P.; Hiatt, James L. (2007). Cell biology and histology. Hagerstwon, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 83. ISBN 0-7817-8577-4.
^ Sadler, T.W. (2006). Langman's Medical Embryology. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 68–70. ISBN 0-7817-9485-4.
^ Weston JA, Yoshida H, Robinson V, Nishikawa S, Fraser ST, Nishikawa S (2004). "Neural crest and the origin of ectomesenchyme: neural fold heterogeneity suggests an alternative hypothesis". Dev. Dyn. 229 (1): 118–30. doi:10.1002/dvdy.10478.PMID 14699583.