Neural crest, fourth embryonary germinative leaf

Abstract

Neural crest cells are pluripotentials, and are called the fourth germinative leaf of the embryo. With the objective of structuring the updated theoretical referents backing up the precedent affirmation that will be study material for the students of Medical Sciences, the authors reviewed 28 bibliographic references, 89 % of them updated. These cells appear during neurulation and after this process they transit from epithelial to mesenchymal; following extracellular matrix signals, they migrate to the whole embryo body differentiating themselves in dissimilar tissues. Tightly related in their evolution to epigenetic mechanisms, this cell population is very likely to be damaged and so they are invoked in the etiology of different congenital defects and noncommunicable chronic diseases like cancer. In conclusion, due to their pluripotentiality and the molecular mechanisms distinguishing their evolution, many authors consider them the embryo´s fourth germinative leaf.