bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/374470; this version posted July 22, 2018. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Neural crest cells regulate optic cup morphogenesis by promoting extracellular matrix assembly Chase D. Bryan1, Rebecca L. Pfeiffer2, Bryan W. Jones2, Kristen M. Kwan1,* Affiliations 1 Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA 2 Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA * Correspondence to: Department of Human Genetics, EIHG 5100, University of Utah Medical Center, 15 North 2030 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. Email address:
[email protected] bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/374470; this version posted July 22, 2018. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 Abstract 2 The interactions between an organ and its surrounding environment are critical in regulating its 3 development. In vertebrates, neural crest and mesodermal mesenchymal cells have been 4 observed close to the eye during development, and mutations affecting this periocular 5 mesenchyme can cause defects in early eye development, yet the underlying mechanism has 6 been unknown.