The relationship between cell division and melanocyte differentiation in epidermal cultures from mouse embryos |
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Authors: | Thomas C. Mayer |
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Affiliation: | Department of Biology, Rider College, Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648 USA |
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Abstract: | Cultures of 14-day embryonic mouse epidermis that include melanoblasts initiate melanin synthesis 30 hr after plating, a schedule that is 2.5 days earlier than in vivo. In order to determine if the accelerated differentiation of melanoblasts is related to a cessation of cell proliferation in the cultures, a study of [3H]thymidine incorporation by melanoblasts and melanocytes was made. Autoradiograms of 14-day epidermal cultures grown for 48 hr in medium containing [3H]thymidine revealed that melanoblasts continue to proliferate during this time period. A second population of melanoblasts that did not incorporate [3H]thymidine was also present in these cultures. The relative numbers of dividing and nondividing melanoblasts change with the age of the epidermis cultured. Ninety-one percent of the melanoblasts in 13-day epidermis take up [3H]thymidine, 63% incorporate [3H]thymidine in 14-day cultures, and only 29% take up label in cultures of 15-day epidermis. It appears from these results that melanoblasts during their migration from the neural crest are proliferative cells and that during the early invasion of the epidermis a nonproliferative population of melanoblasts is established. Both populations coexist in the epidermis and subsequently undergo differentiation on the same time schedule. |
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