Abstract
Avian (chick) embryos are an established and accessible model organism making them ideal for studying developmental processes. Chick embryos can be harvested from the egg and cultured allowing real-time observations and imaging. Here, we describe ex vivo culture and preparation of somite tissue followed by time-lapse multi-photon microscopy, image capture and processing. We applied this approach to perform live imaging of somites, the paired segments in vertebrate embryos that form in a regular sequence on either side of the neural tube, posteriorly from presomitic mesoderm (psm). Somites give rise to cell lineages of the musculoskeletal system in the trunk such as skeletal muscle, cartilage and tendon, as well as endothelial cells. Until recently it was not possible to observe the cellular dynamics underlying morphological transitions in live tissue, including in somites which undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions (EMT) during their differentiation. In addition to the experimental setup, we describe the analytical tools used for image processing.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Stern CD (2005) The chick; a great model system becomes even greater. Dev Cell 8(1):9–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2004.11.018
McColl J, Mok GF, Lippert AH, Ponjavic A, Muresan L, Munsterberg A (2018) 4D imaging reveals stage dependent random and directed cell motion during somite morphogenesis. Sci Rep 8(1):12644. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-31014-3
Davey MG, Balic A, Rainger J, Sang HM, McGrew MJ (2018) Illuminating the chicken model through genetic modification. Int J Dev Biol 62(1–2–3):257–264. https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.170323mm
Benazeraf B, Pourquie O (2013) Formation and segmentation of the vertebrate body axis. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol 29:1–26. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-cellbio-101011-155703
Christ B, Scaal M (2008) Formation and differentiation of avian somite derivatives. Adv Exp Med Biol 638:1–41
Brent AE, Tabin CJ (2002) Developmental regulation of somite derivatives: muscle, cartilage and tendon. Curr Opin Genet Dev 12(5):548–557
Hamburger V, Hamilton HL (1951) A series of normal stages in the development of the chick embryo. J Morphol 88(1):49–92
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Mok, G.F., McColl, J., Münsterberg, A. (2021). 4D Live Imaging and Analysis of Chick Embryo Somites. In: Campbell, K., Theveneau, E. (eds) The Epithelial-to Mesenchymal Transition. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2179. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0779-4_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0779-4_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-0778-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-0779-4
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols