Fig. 4.

N-cadherin depletion in the neural plate blocks neural fold closure and causes spina bifida. (A) The two dorsal animal cells injected with anti-N-cadherin MO (arrows), and the clone of cells derived from this at st. 13 (right-hand panel). (B) Frames from a movie showing failure of folding of the neural plate in MO-injected Xenopus embryos (right-hand panels) as compared with untreated embryos (left-hand panels). The arrow indicates a distinct lip in the neural plate (NP) caused by the pushing movement of the non-neural ectoderm (NE). (C) Spina bifida in N-cadherin-depleted as compared with untreated embryos. N-AS, N-cadherin-depleted embryos; U, untreated embryos.