CHEMICALLY-INDUCED BIDIRECTIONAL DIFFERENTIATION OF EMBRYONAL CARCINOMA-CELLS INVITRO

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  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 97  (3) , 563-+
Abstract
N,N-dimethylacetamide, hexamethylene bisacetamide and polybrene induced rapid and extensive differentiation in vitro in an otherwise slowly differentiating subline of [mouse] embryonal carcinoma cells. The type of differentiated cell induced was dependent on the spatial organization of the stem cells during drug treatment. In monolayer culture epithelial cells were produced exclusively. Treatment of aggregated suspension cultures yielded predominantly fibroblast-like cells. The undifferentiated embryonal carcinoma cells and the 2 differentiated cell types were morphologically distinct when examined by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, and they had differences in cell surface antigens. Both differentiated cell types produced large amounts of fibronectin, whereas the embryonal carcinoma cells produced only minimal amounts. This system provides a convenient way to induce relatively synchronous differentiation of embryonal carcinoma cells into specific differentiated cell types.