Paraxial mesoderm

Paraxial mesoderm
Transverse section of a chick embryo of forty-five hours’ incubation. * Chordamesoderm: yellow, at notochord. * Paraxial mesoderm: red, at somite. * Intermediate mesoderm: purple, near Wolffian duct. * Lateral plate mesoderm: purple, near "Somatic mesoderm" and "Splanchic mesoderm".
Chick embryo of thirty-three hours’ incubation, viewed from the dorsal aspect. (Paraxial mesoderm labeled at left.)
Gray's	subject #6 50
Carnegie stage	9
Gives rise to	somitomere, head mesoderm

Paraxial mesoderm is the area of mesoderm that forms just lateral to the neural tube on both sides.

It gives rise to the somitomeres/somites and mesoderm of the branchial arches.

• Somites form the vertebral column, dermis and skeletal muscle
• Branchial arches will develop into facial muscle and cartilage, plus other structures.

• eventually differentiates into the axial skeleton, skeletal muscle, part of the dermis
• almost immediately as it is formed, somitomeres develop.
• starts with several pairs in the cranial region, and increasingly more proceed to develop towards

the caudal region.

• The original seven pairs form the striated muscles of head and neck, which develop within the

pharyngeal arches

• The other somitomeres develop further, to form discrete blocks called somites, starting at

approximately 20 days.

External links

• Overview at nih.gov
• Diagram and overview at mcgill.ca
• Diagram at lww.com

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This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated.