somite
The generation of somites, and the subsequent formation of their major derivatives, muscle-, cartilage-, dermis- and tendon-cell lineages, is tightly orchestrated and, to different extents, these are also mutually supporting processes.
They involve complex and timely reorganizations of the paraxial mesoderm, such as multiple phases of epithelial-mesenchymal rearrangements and vice-versa, cellular movements and migrations, and modifications of both cell shape and cell cycle properties.
These morphogenetic changes are triggered by local environmental signals and are tightly associated to a genetic program imparting cell-specific fates.
See also
vertebral segmentation (somites segmentation)
somitogenesis
References
Chong SW, Jiang YJ. Off limits—integrins holding boundaries in somitogenesis. Trends Cell Biol. 2005 Sep;15(9):453-7. PMID: #16087338#
Kalcheim C, Ben-Yair R. Cell rearrangements during development of the somite and its derivatives. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2005 Jun 9; PMID: #15950454#