An In vitro Study on Chick Somite Ability to Express Cerberus, Chordin, FGF8, Follistatin, and Noggin Transcripts

BACKGROUND In vitro simulation of developmental processes is an invaluable tool to shed light on the intrinsic mechanism of developmental biosystems such as central nervous system in mammals. Chick somites have been used to simulate the neural differentiation of human neural progenitor cells. In the present study, we aimed to indicate whether somites have the ability to express required neural differentiation factors at mRNA level. METHODS Chick embryos were isolated from the yolk surface of the fertilized eggs and somites were subsequently isolated from embryos under a dissecting microscope. Total RNA of the somites was extracted and RT-PCR carried out with specific primers of cerberus, chordin, FGF8, follistatin and noggin. RESULTS Data showed that five aforementioned factors were co-expressed after 7 days in vitro by somites. CONCLUSION We concluded that neural induction property of somites appeared by production of required neural differentiation factors including cerberus, chordin, FGF8, follistatin and noggin.