Topic Outline:

DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANS OF
MESODERMAL ORIGIN

I. THE PARAXIAL MESODERM: SOMITES AND THEIR DERIVATIVES

One major task of gastrulation is to create a mesodermal layer between
endoderm and ectoderm. The formation of mesodermal and ectodermal
organs is synchronous but not subsequent to neural tube formation.

A. Bands of Paraxial Mesoderm

1. Segmental Plate (Birds)
2. Unsegmented Plate (Mammals)
B. Somitogenesis (The Formation of Somites)
1. Periodicity
● Paraxial mesoderm cells become organized into whorls
called somitomeres.
● Periodicity, one of the key agents is the hairy gene.
2. Separation
● The hairy gene encodes a transcription factor
● Cell to cell repulsion between the posterior somite and
migrating neural crest cells.
● Ephrin and Eph are critical for separating somites
3. Epithelialization
● The cells of somitomere are randomly organized as
mesenchymal mass
● Synthesis of 2 extracellular matrix proteins, fibronectin
and N-cadherin that links them into arrays that will form
tight junctions and generate the basal laminae
 ● The extracellular matrix proteins are regulated by the
expression of the Paraxis gene.
C. Differentiation Within the Somite
Formation of:
1. Cartilage of the vertebrae and ribs
2. Muscles of the rib cage, limbs and back
3. Dermis of dorsal skin

II. THE INTERMEDIATE MESODERM: UROGENITAL SYSTEM

A. Progression of Kidney Types
B. Specification of the Intermediate Mesoderm: Pax2/8 and Lim1
C. Reciprocal Interactions of Developing Kidney Tissues
1. Mechanisms of reciprocal induction
III. LATERAL PLATE MESODERM: HEART DEVELOPMENT, FORMATION OF
BLOOD VESSELS AND BLOOD
A. Development of the Heart
1. Specification of heart tissue
2. Migration of cardiac precursor cells
3. Determination of anterior and posterior cardiac domains
4. Heart cell differentiation
5. Fusion of heart rudiments and initial heartbeats
6. Looping and formation of heart chambers
B. Formation of the Blood Vessels
1. Constraints on how blood vessels may be constructed
a) Physiological
b) Evolutionary
c) Physical
2. Vasculogenesis: formation of blood vessels from blood islands
a) Sites of Vasculogenesis
b) Growth Factors
3. Angiogenesis: sprouting of blood vessels and remodeling of
vascular beds
C. The Development of Blood Cells
1. Hematopoiesis: Stem cell concept
a) Sites of Hematopoiesis
b) Committed stem cells and their fates
IV. DEVELOPMENT OF THE TETRAPOD LIMB
 A. Formation of the Limb Bud
1. Specification of the limb fields
2. Induction of the early limb bud: Wnt proteins and fibroblast
growth factors
3. Specification of forelimb or hindlimb
B. Generating the Proximal-Distal Axis of the Limb
1. The apical ectodermal ridge
➔ proximal-distal growth and differentiation of the limb
bud
➔ distal mesenchyme
2. FCFs in the induction of the AER
3. Specifying the limb mesoderm: Determining the
proximal-distal polarity of the limb
4. A reaction-diffusion model for limb specification
C. Specification of the Anterior-Posterior Axis
1. The zone of polarizing activity
2. Specifying digit identity by Sonic hedgehog
D. Generation of the Dorsal-Ventral Axis
E. Coordinating the Three Axes
F. Cell Death and the Formation of Digits and Joints
1. Sculpting the autopod
2. Forming the joints
G. Continued Limb Growth: Epiphyseal Plates
1. Fibroblast growth factor receptors: Dwarfism
2. Growth hormone and estrogen receptors
3. Parathyroid hormone-related peptide and Indian hedgehog
H. Coda

V. DEVELOPMENT OF THE VERTEBRAE

A. The development of the notochord
1. Paraxial area
2. Lateral area
3. Intermediate area
B. Ossification
1. three primary centers:
a) centrum and 2 on each side of the neural processes
2. five secondary ossification centers
a) the tip of the spinous process, the tip of both transverse
processes, and the superior and inferior surfaces of the
vertebral body.