Molecular events controlling cessation of trunk neural crest migration and onset of differentiation

Neural crest cells migrate extensively in vertebrate embryos to populate diverse derivatives including ganglia of the peripheral nervous system. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms that tell migrating trunk neural crest cells to settle at selected sites in the embryo by ceasing migration and initiating differentiation programs. Our study is the first to demonstrate that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), is a potent chemoattractant for tNCC that may regulate the process that leads migrating tNCC to coalesce into DRG.