UC Davis

Neural crest (NC) cells are multipotent embryonic cells that form melanocytes, craniofacial bone and cartilage, and the peripheral nervous system in vertebrates. NC cells express many cadherin proteins, which control their specification, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), migration, and mesenchymal to epithelial transition. Abnormal NC development leads to congenital defects including craniofacial clefts as well as NC-derived cancers. Here, we identify the role of the type II cadherin protein, Cadherin-11 (CDH11), in early chicken NC development. CDH11 is known to play a role in NC cell migration in amphibian embryos as well as cell survival, proliferation, and migration in cancer cells. It has also been linked to the complex neurocristopathy disorder, Elsahy-Waters Syndrome, in humans. In this study, we knocked down CDH11 translation at the onset of its expression in the NC domain during NC induction. Loss of CDH11 led to a reduction of bonafide NC cells in the dorsal neural tube combined with defects in cell survival and migration. Loss of CDH11 increased p53-mediated programmed-cell death, and blocking the p53 pathway rescued the NC phenotype. Our findings reveal an early requirement for CDH11 in NC development and demonstrated the complexity of the mechanisms that regulate NC development, where a single cell-cell adhesion protein simultaneous controls multiple essential cellular functions to ensure proper specification, survival, and transition to a migratory phase in the dorsal neural tube. Our findings may also increase our understanding of early cadherin-related NC developmental defects.