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Fig. 1 | BMC Developmental Biology

Fig. 1

From: The growth pattern of the human intestine and its mesentery

Fig. 1

The orientation of the midgut loop and its mesentery during the 5th week follows the helical body axis. Panel a: Dorsal view of the reconstruction of a CS14 embryo (s5029). Note the left-sided juxtaposition of the head relative to the caudal end of the body, reflecting the helical body axis. The successive parts of the midgut are shown in a rainbow color gradient (see legend color codes). Note that the vitelline artery (3) and the right vitelline vein (7) traverse the vitelline duct (8) at the apex of the midgut loop. The arrows indicate the changes occurring during straightening of the body axis in CS15 and CS16 embryos. Panel b shows the position of the developing midgut mesentery (10) between both limbs of the midgut. Note the limited craniocaudal extension of the mesentery at this stage (10). The beige area identifies the region where the intestinal mesenchyme is attached to the dorsal body wall. Panel c: Histological section of embryo s5029 with right vitelline vein (7), vitelline artery (3), cecum (Ce) and developing dorsal midgut mesentery (10). Due to the helical body axis, the caudal end of the body is cut near transversely (with left (L) and right (R) sides), whereas more cranially, the body is cut almost sagittally (V: ventral; D: dorsal). Note that the midgut mesentery (10) is ~4-fold thinner than the mesenchymal mass surrounding the intestine. Scale bar unit: μm. An interactive 3D-PDF is available online (3D-PDF CS14)

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