The neural crest (NC) is a quite extraordinary cell lineage that appears after the establishment of three germ layers around the border of the neural plate (forming the neural tube) and is often regarded as the fourth germ layer. Although ectodermal in origin, they acquire mesenchymal cell properties instead of the original ectodermal properties, giving them an extraordinary migratory capacity to reach everywhere in the embryo. They also show multipotential differentiation capability, including cartilage and bones of the head and neck, neurons and glial cells of the peripheral nervous system, endocrine cells, smooth muscle cells, tendons, and pigment cells. Therefore, they are sometimes called NC stem cells. Every aspect of NC cells provides an excellent model for each step of the developmental process, such as embryonic induction, specification, tissue commitment, migratory potential and cell-fate determination. Therefore, NC cells have attracted the interest of many researchers for over a century.
In this lecture, I will summarize a part of the current knowledge on NC cells and introduce our efforts to locate the NC stem cells during embryogenesis and also the re-programing (direct conversion) of the fibroblasts into NC cells by using NC-specific transcription factor(s).

Referecces related with the lecture:
Kunisada T, Tezulka KI, Aoki H, Motohashi T. The stemness of neural crest cells and their derivatives. Birth Defects Res C Embryo Today. 102, 251-262, 2014. 10.1002/bdrc.21079. (review)

Motohashi T, Watanabe N, Nishioka M, Nakatake Y, Yulan P, Mochizuki H, Kawamura Y, Ko MS, Goshima N, Kunisada T. Gene array analysis of neural crest cells identifies transcription factors necessary for direct conversion of embryonic fibroblasts into neural crest cells. Biol Open. 5, 311-322, 2016.