ROLES OF EPH RECEPTORS AND EPHRINS IN NEURAL CREST PATHFINDING

Neural crest cells migrate along specific pathways to their destinatio ns and, like neuronal growth cones, must be guided by extracellular cu es. One example of neural crest pathfinding is the segmental migration of branchial and trunk neural crest; this is associated with the patt erning of the skeletal components of the branchial arches and of the p eripheral nervous system. In this review, we discuss recent work that has implicated Eph receptors and their ephrin ligands in mediating rep ulsive interactions that restrict neural crest cell migration. We rela te these findings to the roles of these receptors and ligands in growt h cone guidance and the segmental restriction of cell movement in the hindbrain.