ON THE STABILITY OF THE MYOGENIC CELL-LINE IN AVIAN LIMB BUD DEVELOPMENT

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 70  (2) , 81-90
Abstract
Either somite-derived cells which invade the somatopleural limb mesoderm may constitute a distinct myogenic cell lineage or limb bud cells may be multipotent. To clarify this controversy, the phenotypic differentiation of somite-derived myogenic cells was studied in abnormal environmental conditions after randomization of the relative position of the limb mesenchymal cells. To ascertain the possibility of a presumptive myogenic cell differentiating into a chondrocyte or a fibroblast, it was essential to distinguish between cells of myogenic origin and others. A bispecific wing bud, in which the cells of the myogenic line were quail [Coturnix coturnix japonica] cells and the other limb cells were chick cells, was created. A recombinant wing bud, with a chick wing ectodermal hull stuffed with a piece of dissociated and reaggregated mesoderm of 4-day bispecific wing buds, was also constructed. The recombinant wing bud was grown as a graft on a chick host. Histological observations show that most cells derived from the quail myogenic line congregate into muscle masses where they differentiate into myocytes. A few of them participate in the cartilaginous element where they never express their myogenic phenotype but are morphologically integrated into the chick cartilaginous environment.