Segregation of Primordial Germ Cells from the Endoderm of the Early Xenopus Embryo by Applying Fibronectin, an Extracellular Matrix, in vitro

Two in vitro culture systems were used in order to identify Xenopus primordial germ cells in the early stages of their migration through the endodermal mass. For this study, whole endodermal mass and dissociated endodermal cells were cultured on fibronectin substrates. In the early stages of the explantation, each system used permits the spotting of particular cells among somatic endodermal cells. These cells exhibit an elongated shape, they present random locomotion and they move on the substrate by elongation-contraction. Ultrastructural studies of these cells confirm their germinal quality.