This protein causes defects in the differentiation process of human mesenchymal stem cell and neuroectodermal cells, resulting in Ewing sarcoma tumor cells.
Very early on in fetal development, the ectoderm which is the outer layer of the fertilized egg starts to develop a bit of a ridge that eventually becomes the neural tube.
This constitutes a defect or absence of the vertebral arches, due to failure of mesoderm to organize over the region of the defect, and it may or may not involve the underlying meninges and neural tissue.