A dead end

Description of the photo

In this mouse embryo, the Schwann cell precursors or PCS (green) appear to be trapped in the fibers of this spinal nerve (red). This metaphor is not entirely false: in wild mice, these PCS are destined to become Schwann cells, but also melanocytes which are supposed to colonize the skin and give it its color. In this Spot mouse, a model with Waardenburg-Shah Syndrome, PCS are blocked in the path of Schwann cell development, to the detriment of melanocytes. This is due to the abnormal expression of the NR2F1 gene (blue), a leader in the expression of genes involved in glial differentiation. This explains why Spot mice do not have skin and hair pigmentation. Photo taken at the Nikon A1 confocal. 20X multi-immersion objective, glycerol.