Microenvironmental signals determine the fates of crest-derived cells
•Signals from the environment received by crest cells regulate their:
–migratory paths
–proliferation
–restriction of developmental potential
–survival
–formation of terminally differentiated derivatives.
•As crest-derived cells
migrate they change:
–cell surface receptors
–intracellular transduction mechanisms.
•Postmigratory cells in the gut are thus different from their premigratory precursors in the neural crest.
