Mouse embryonic posterior neuropore, confocal image.

item

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Shop

Café

All of Wellcome Collection, including our library, café and shop, will be closed on Monday 4 November for staff training. We will open again as usual on Tuesday 5 November.

We’re undertaking some research with website visitors to learn more about how people find access-related information provided by museums. This survey shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes to complete. Thank you for your time!

Help us organize our website content.

<p>Mouse posterior neuropore, confocal image. This structure is the embryonic precursor of the spinal cord and defects in its formation lead to severe neurodevelopmental disorders such as spina bifida. This image illustrates the entire posterior neuropore with different cellular features labelled in different colours. In this region there are three main embryonic tissue types: the neural tube ending in the posterior neuropore (pointing up), the surface ectoderm overlying the surface, and the mesoderm between the other two tissues. Using a "digital dissection" technique these three layers have been highlighted in blue in each of the three neuropores, from left to right. <p>Studying this structure poses many challenges due to its complex 3D shape, relatively large size in mammals (and dynamic nature in living embryos. This sort of analysis is helpful in dissecting differences in cellular behaviours and responses between these three critical tissue types, and the mapping of lineage-specific functions which may lead to congenital defects when disrupted.</p>

Mouse embryonic posterior neuropore, confocal image.

Licence and re-use