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Figure 1. Xenopus mandibular trigeminal nerve innervates the cement gland. (A) Whole mount immunostaining of a Xenopus embryo (St. 29) labeled with β-tubulin antibody and cleared in Murray's clearing solution reveals the embryonic axonal network, including the prominent mandibular trigeminal nerve. (B) The mandibular trigeminal nerve (arrow) extends between the eye vesicle (e) and otic vesicle (ov), and then turns ventrally before terminating at the ventral region of the cement gland (asterisk). Deletion of cement glands results in the loss of trigeminal targeting, where the axons either (C) stop growth, or extended (D) dorsally or (E) ventrally. Because the embryos are transparent, trigeminal axons on the opposite side could also be detected. In the cement gland null embryos, trigeminal axons on either side of the face do not necessarily project erroneously in the same directions. |
