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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Mech Dev. 2012 May 26;129(5-8):75–97. doi: 10.1016/j.mod.2012.05.005

Figure 1. Cardiac NC migration and its contribution to the cardiovascular system.

Figure 1

(A) In the mammalian embryo, NC cells delaminate form the dorsal neural tube and migrate in a stereotypical pattern. Based on their origin in the hindbrain (arrows) they populate individual pharyngeal arches (PA). The cardiac NC (red arrows) arises from a region posterior to the otic vesicle (OV) and migrates through pharyngeal arches 3, 4 and 6, along the aortic arch arteries (AA) and into the outflow tract (OFT) of the heart (red circles) to form the aorticopulmonary septum. There are no fifth pharyngeal arch arteries in amniotes. Lateral view, anterior to left, dorsal to top. (B) In chick and mouse the cardiac NC contributes to aortic arch arteries and forms the aorticopulmonary septum of the outflow tract. In Xenopus, cardiac NC cells populate the aortic sac and arch arteries, but do not colonize the outflow tract septum.