optic vesicle

{{short description|Sac that protrudes from the embryonic forebrain to form each eye}}

{{Infobox embryology

| Name = Optic vesicle

| Latin = vesicula optica; vesicula ophthalmica

| Image = Gray863.png

| Caption = Transverse section of head of chick embryo of forty-eight hours’ incubation. (Optic vesicle labeled at lower right.)

| Image2 = Gray977.png

| Caption2 = Human embryo about fifteen days old. Brain and heart represented from right side. Digestive tube and yolk sac in median section. (Optic vesicle labeled at center top.)

| System =

| CarnegieStage = 11

| Precursor =

| GivesRiseTo = Human eyes

}}

The eyes begin to develop as a pair of diverticula (pouches) from the lateral aspects of the forebrain. These diverticula make their appearance before the closure of the anterior end of the neural tube;{{cite journal |last1=Hosseini |first1=Hadi S. |last2=Beebe |first2=David C. |last3=Taber |first3=Larry A.|title= Mechanical Effects of the Surface Ectoderm on Optic Vesicle Morphogenesis in the Chick Embryo |journal=Journal of Biomechanics |date=2014 |volume=47 |issue=16 |pages=3837–3846 |doi=10.1016/j.jbiomech.2014.10.018 |pmid=25458577 |pmc=4261019 }}{{cite journal |last1=Hosseini |first1=Hadi S. |last2=Taber |first2=Larry A. |title= How mechanical forces shape the developing eye |journal=Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology |date=2018 |volume=137 |issue=16 |pages=25–36 |doi=10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2018.01.004|pmid=29432780 |pmc=6085168 }} after the closure of the tube around the 4th week of development, they are known as the optic vesicles. Previous studies of optic vesicles suggest that the surrounding extraocular tissues – the surface ectoderm and extraocular mesenchyme – are necessary for normal eye growth and differentiation.Fuhrmann, S. (2010). Eye Morphogenesis and Patterning of the Optic Vesicle. Current Topics in Developmental Biology Invertebrate and Vertebrate Eye Development, 61-84. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-385044-7.00003-5

They project toward the sides of the head, and the peripheral part of each expands to form a hollow bulb, while the proximal part remains narrow and constitutes the optic stalk, which goes on to form the optic nerve.{{cite journal |last1=Hosseini |first1=Hadi S. |last2=Beebe |first2=David C. |last3=Taber |first3=Larry A. |title=Mechanical effects of the surface ectoderm on optic vesicle morphogenesis in the chick embryo |journal=Journal of Biomechanics |date=2014 |volume=47 |issue=16 |pages=3837–3846 |doi=10.1016/j.jbiomech.2014.10.018 |pmid=25458577 |pmc=4261019 }}{{cite journal |last1=Hosseini |first1=Hadi S. |last2=Taber |first2=Larry A. |title= How mechanical forces shape the developing eye |journal=Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology |date=2018 |volume=137 |issue=16 |pages=25–36 |doi=10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2018.01.004|pmid=29432780 |pmc=6085168 }}