Mesenchymal Paradigm: Implications in Morphogenesis

A micro-anatomic study of mesenchyme involvement in the morphogenesis of human biosystem is intended. The research was carried out on 80 sagittal serial sections taken from a 12-week human fetus. Spatial distribution of mesenchyme within the gut tube, urogenital and endocrine systems was analyzed. The results are based on the assumption that there are two forms of mesenchyme if one takes into consideration the embryonic origin: mesenchyme originating from mesoderm (meso-mesenchyme) and mesenchyme originating from ectoderm (ectomesenchyme) within the neural crest. We believe that in the morphogenesis of human biosystem, the mesenchyme can be induced byphenotype changes or it can act as an inductor in other structures. The significance of mesenchyme space distribution and of its phenotype changes in pathology is discussed.