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M Solursh

Publications and source records attributed to M Solursh.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Microtiter micromass cultures of limb-bud mesenchymal cells.

A method is described for growing high-density micromass cultures of chick and mouse limb mesenchyme cells in 96-well microtiter plates (microT microM cultures). Rapid quantitative estimates of chondrogenic expression were obtained by automated spectrophotometric analysis of Alcian-blue-stained cartilage matrix extracts performed in the wells in which the cells had been grown. Quantitative estimates of myogenic expression were obtained similarly using anti-sarcomere myosin monoclonal antibody and modified ELISA techniques. This microT microM-ELISA method may be adapted for use with other antigens for which specific antibodies are available. These methods were used to compare cartilage and muscle differentiation in 1 to 4 d microT microM cultures grown in serum-containing (SCM) and defined (DM) media. The DM contains minimal additives (insulin, hydrocortisone, and in some cases, ascorbate or transferrin) and supports both chondrogenesis and myogenesis. The colorimetric analyses agree well with the morphologic appraisal of chondrogenesis and myogenesis. Similar numbers of cartilage nodules formed in all cultures, but in DM the nodules failed to enlarge; explaining the reduced matrix synthesis in DM as compared with SCM, and suggesting that nodule enlargement is a discrete, serum-dependent step. Studies of selected additives to DM show that transferrin enhances myogenesis, ascorbic acid enhances chondrogenesis, and retinoic acid inhibits chondrogenesis. Together, the microT microM system, in situ colorimetric assays of chondrogenesis and myogenesis, and DM will allow rapid prescreening of teratogens and screening of various bioactive compounds (e.g., hormones, growth factors, vitamins, adhesion factors) for effects on limb mesenchymal cell differentiation.

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Analysis of type II collagen RNA localization in chick wing buds by in situ hybridization.

Type II collagen is a major component of cartilage extracellular matrix. Differentiation of mesenchyme into cartilage involves the cessation of type I collagen synthesis and the onset of type II collagen synthesis. Solution hybridization of mRNA isolated from chick limb buds with a cDNA probe to type II collagen mRNA showed the presence of small amounts of type II collagen message in mesenchymal chick limbs. We have examined the localization of type II collagen mRNA in mesenchymal chick wing buds by in situ hybridization using single stranded RNA probes. Our results show a small but detectable amount of type II collagen RNA distributed uniformly in early limbs until the first precartilage condensations form at stage 22. This is interesting because it is known that mesenchyme isolated from chick wing buds has the capacity to undergo chondrogenesis in culture, even if taken from nonchondrogenic areas of the limb. At stage 23, type II collagen mRNA is found at significantly increased levels in the cells of the precartilage condensation when compared to the other limb cells. As chondrogenesis proceeds, the amount of type II collagen RNA increases even more in cells of the cartilage elements. The signal in the peripheral tissue is indistinguishable from background. These results show that type II collagen message exists at low levels in cells throughout the mesenchymal chick wing bud, until the formation of the condensation results in an elevation of type II mRNA in the prechondrogenic cells found in the core of the limb.

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Dependence of sea urchin primary mesenchyme cell migration on xyloside- and sulfate-sensitive cell surface-associated components.

The migration of sea urchin primary mesenchyme cells (PMC) is inhibited in embryos cultured in sulfate-free seawater and in seawater containing exogenous xylosides. In the present study, primary mesenchyme cells and extra-cellular matrix have been isolated from normal and treated Lytechinus pictus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus embryos and recombined in an in vitro migration assay to determine whether the cells or the matrix are migration defective. Normal cells were found to migrate on either normal or treated matrix, whereas sulfate-deprived and xyloside-treated PMC failed to migrate in vitro on normal and treated substrata. Migratory ability can be restored to defective cells by returning the PMC to normal seawater, or by exposing the defective cells to materials removed from the surface of normal cells with 1 M urea. The similarity of the results obtained with sulfate-deprived and xyloside-treated PMC suggested that a common molecule may be affected by the two treatments. As a first test of this possibility, xyloside-treated S. purpuratus PMC were given the urea extract prepared from sulfate-deprived S. purpuratus PMC, and this extract did not restore migratory ability. These findings indicate that PMC normally synthesize a surface-associated molecule that is involved in cell migration, and the sensitivity to exogenous xylosides and sulfate deprivation suggests that a sulfated proteoglycan may be involved in primary mesenchyme cell migration.

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Extracellular matrix triggers a directed cell migratory response in sea urchin primary mesenchyme cells.

The role of extracellular matrix in cell migration has generally been considered in terms of a substratum. However, when thin cell processes from migrating sea urchin primary mesenchyme cells contact small latex beads coated with extracellular matrix from the blastocoel, the cells migrate directly to the coated beads. Since the beads are not anchored, this result indicates that highly localized contact with the extracellular matrix can stimulate movement independently of any change in cell adhesion.

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Selective stimulation of in vitro limb-bud chondrogenesis by retinoic acid.

Embryonic exposure to pharmacologic doses of vitamin A analogs (retinoids) is a well-known cause of limb-skeletal deletions, limb truncation and other skeletal malformations. The exclusively inhibitory effect of retinoic acid (RA) on chondrogenesis in standard serum-containing cultures of limb-bud mesenchymal cells is equally well known and has provided a means to explore the cellular basis for RA-mediated skeletal teratogenesis. Recent studies showing that lower RA concentrations can cause skeletal duplication when applied directly to the anterior border of a developing limb, suggest that RA may have a role in normal limb development as a diffusible morphogen capable of regulating skeletal pattern. While RA treatment causes both, skeletal deletions and duplications are clearly different (if not opposing) effects, the latter of which is difficult to reconcile with RA's heretofore exclusively inhibitory effect on in vitro chondrogenesis. In the present study. RA's effects on chondrogenesis and myogenesis were examined in serum-free cultures of chick limb-bud mesenchymal cells and compared with its effects on similar cultures grown in serum-containing medium. When added to serum-free medium, concentrations of RA known to cause skeletal duplication in vivo dramatically enhanced in vitro chondrogenesis (to over 200% of control values) as judged by both Alcian-blue staining and [35S]sulfate incorporation, while having little effect on myogenesis. Higher concentrations inhibited both chondrogenesis and myogenesis. The results indicate that at physiological concentrations. RA can selectively modulate chondrogenic expression and suggest that at higher concentrations, RA's inhibitory effects are less specific.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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The accumulation of basement membrane components during the onset of chondrogenesis and myogenesis in the chick wing bud.

The study describes the distribution of several basement membrane molecules in the embryonic chick wing bud from stages 23 to 26, during the onset of myogenesis and chondrogenesis, and then later at stage 28. Laminin is localized as early as stage 23, prior to the onset of myogenesis, in regions corresponding to the position of the future dorsal and ventral myogenic areas. Other matrix components, including fibronectin, do not differentially accumulate in these same regions. Fibronectin, basement membrane heparan sulphate proteoglycan and type IV collagen are more widespread in their distribution than laminin, and are even present between mesenchymal cells. These results suggest a role for laminin in the initial differentiation of the muscle masses and emphasize that components of basement membrane can also be associated with mesenchymal cells.

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The migration of myogenic cells from the somites at the wing level in avian embryos.

This study is concerned with establishing a morphological basis for the initiation of migration of putative myogenic cells from the somites into the presumptive wing bud in avian embryos. At the 22 somite stage (stage 14) vasculogenesis is a prevalent activity. By use of a quail specific monoclonal antibody to vascular endothelial cells, vascular cells are recognized in the lateral plate, on the intermediate mesoderm, and on somite surfaces. Cells that are found between the lateral plate mesoderm and somites are shown to be vascular endothelial cells. The lateral body folds progressively bring the lateral plate mesoderm close to the lateral margin of the somites and vascular elements disappear from surface view. It is not until the 24 somite stage (stage 15) that some cells in the ventral lateral margin of somites at the wing level can be seen in scanning electron micrographs to extend basal cell processes toward adjacent vascular tubes. These results provide a morphological basis for the early migratory behavior of myogenic cells and demonstrate their close proximity to the prepatterned vascular network.

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The detection of a precartilage, blastema-specific marker.

Mesenchymal cell aggregates, termed blastema in vivo, precede cartilage differentiation in vivo and in high-density cell cultures. The galactose specific lectin, peanut agglutinin (PNA), has been shown to be blastema specific (B. Zimmermann and M. Thies, 1984, Histochemistry 81, 353-361). PNA appears to be a marker for precartilage cellular aggregates both in vivo and in vitro. Frozen sections of stage 24 chick wing buds were double stained with PNA-rhodamine and by indirect immunofluorescence with antibody directed against type II collagen. The PNA stained the humeral blastema intensely and extended distal to the level of type II collagen. High-density cultures of stage 24 chick wing buds were also evaluated for the distribution of PNA binding. Sixteen-hour cultures showed the earliest consistent appearance of PNA binding. The PNA-stained areas coincided with hematoxylin-stained cell aggregates. PNA staining was inhibited by 50 mM D(+)-galactose and was not sensitive to 1% testicular hyaluronidase pretreatment. No Alcian blue-staining nodules were present yet at 16 hr. The presence of a precartilage, blastema-specific marker in situ, as well as in precartilage aggregates in cultures, suggests the similarities in chondrogenesis between these two conditions. Stage 19 limb bud cultures did not form nodules but did form aggregates that were PNA positive. Furthermore, single cells that differentiated into chondrocytes on collagen gels or after cytochalasin D treatment lacked PNA-binding material. These results suggest that this material is specific to precartilage aggregates. The PNA-positive material was extracellular in distribution and was removed after brief extraction with 0.5 M guanidine hydrochloride.

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Evidence for sequential appearance of cartilage matrix proteins in developing mouse limbs and in cultures of mouse mesenchymal cells.

The initiation of synthesis and the accumulation of four cartilage matrix proteins (type II collagen and three noncollagenous proteins, one of Mr 148, one of Mr 59, and an oligometric protein of Mr above 500 with 100-kDa subunits, respectively) were studied in developing mouse limbs and in cultures of limb bud mesenchyme by means of immunolocalization. On day 13 of gestation, type II collagen was observed throughout the entire humerus, whereas the 148-kDa protein was localized only in the central portion. Neither the 100-kDa-subunit protein nor the 59-kDa protein could be demonstrated in the humerus at that stage. On day 14 1/2, type II collagen and the 148-kDa protein were codistributed throughout the humerus. The 100-kDa-subunit protein was detectable in the periphery of the humerus, whereas little 59-kDa protein could yet be demonstrated. On day 18, all four proteins being studied could be detected immunologically in the developing mouse humerus. They differed in immunolocalization. Type Ii collagen, the 148-kDa protein, and the 100-kDa-subunit protein were codistributed throughout the distal and proximal parts of the cartilage. However, the 148-kDa protein could no longer be detected immunochemically in the outermost part of the cartilage in the proximal shoulder joint. The 148-kDa protein codistributed with type II collagen and the 100-kDa-subunit protein in the distal cartilaginous region, where joint development was less advanced. On the other hand, the 59-kDa protein was not demonstrated directly within the hyaline cartilaginous structures, but surrounded the entire structure. This protein was also present in the same part of the proximal joint region as that in which the 148-kDa protein was not detected. To develop an in vitro model for studies of skeletogenesis, mesenchymal cells prepared from mouse limb buds were cultured as micromass cultures at high initial cell density to favor chondrogenesis. On day 3 of culture, type II collagen was the only protein that could be detected immunochemically in the cultures, whereas on day 6 the 148-kDa protein was demonstrated, and a few chondrocytes in the central portion of each cartilaginous nodule were associated with the 100-kDa-subunit protein. The 59-kDa protein could not yet be immunochemically detected.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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Inhibition of cell migration in sea urchin embryos by beta-D-xyloside.

This investigation examines the effect of exogenous xylosides on primary mesenchyme cell behavior in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus embryos. In confirmation of studies in some other species the addition of 2 mM p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xylopyranoside blocks the migration but not the initial ingression of primary mesenchyme cells. The blastocoel matrix of treated embryos appears deficient in a 15- to 30-nm-diameter granular component that is observed extensively on the basal lamina and on filopodia of migrating primary mesenchyme cells in untreated embryos. Other blastocoel components appear unaffected by ultrastructural criteria. The incorporation of 35SO4(2-) per embryo into ethanol precipitates of isolated blastocoel matrices was reduced significantly after xyloside treatment but the distribution of 35SO4(2-) after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis or the glycosaminoglycan composition was unaffected. Chromatography on Sepharose CL-2B demonstrates a reduction in size of sulfated components of the blastocoel. While over 60% of the 35S-labeled material from the blastocoel of normal mesenchyme blastulae is voided from a Sepharose CL-2B column run in a dissociative solvent, only 10% from xyloside treated embryos is voided. Instead, there is a large included peak with Kav of 0.33. This material is acid soluble but cetylpyridinium chloride precipitable. It apparently consists largely of free glycosaminoglycan chains. Based on analysis of chondroitinase ABC digestion products this material consists of 41% chondroitin-6-sulfate and 58% dermatan sulfate. These results are consistent with a role in cell migration for intact chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate proteoglycans in the sea urchin blastocoel matrix.

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The independence of myogenesis and chondrogenesis in micromass cultures of chick wing buds.

Micromass cultures prepared from stage 23, 24, or 25 chick wing buds and cultured under identical conditions produce similar numbers of myoblasts. After treatment with the DNA synthesis inhibitor cytosine-1-beta-D-arabinofuranoside, [3H]thymidine labeling and autoradiography of the cultures show that the increase in myoblast number during the first 48 hr of culture is due primarily to cell division. Micromass cultures prepared from proximal and distal portions of stage 23 or 24 wing buds have very different chondrogenic potentials in vitro (B.J. Swalla, E.M. Owens, T.F. Linsenmayer, and M. Solursh (1983). Dev. Biol. 97, 59-69) but a similar myogenic potential under these culture conditions. Medium supplements that significantly enhance chondrogenesis by proximal cell cultures, such as low serum or 1 mM db cyclic AMP, do not affect the number of myoblasts per unit area of culture during the first 3 days. Muscle cells are eventually reduced in number in whole limb micromass cultures, yet persist as long as 6 days in proximal and distal cultures. These results suggest that myogenic cells are already committed in the early limbs but are inhibited from differentiation in situ until a later time. Myogenesis and chondrogenesis occur independently in culture, consistent with the idea that these two differentiated cells are derived from two separate cell populations. Furthermore, treatments which enhance chondrogenesis do not act indirectly by killing the myoblast population in these cultures.

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Epithelial effects on limb chondrogenesis involve extracellular matrix and cell shape.

Collagen gel cultures of limb bud mesenchymal cells are normally permissive for chondrogenesis but become inhibitory for chondrogenesis when they are preconditioned by limb ectoderm. This inhibition is specific for cartilage differentiation, inasmuch as myoblast differentiation is unaffected and flattened, fibroblastic cells are more numerous on conditioned gels. The antichondrogenic effect of ectoderm-conditioned gels is not blocked by agents that elevate intracellular cyclic AMP levels and that promote chondrogenesis under other conditions. In contrast, the inhibitory effect of the ectoderm is alleviated when cultures are treated with cytochalasin D, a cytoskeleton-disrupting agent that causes the cells to remain spherical. These results suggest that ectoderm-conditioned collagen gels inhibit chondrogenesis through an effect on cell shape.

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Environmental regulation of type X collagen production by cultures of limb mesenchyme, mesectoderm, and sternal chondrocytes.

We have examined whether the production of hypertrophic cartilage matrix reflecting a late stage in the development of chondrocytes which participate in endochondral bone formation, is the result of cell lineage, environmental influence, or both. We have compared the ability of cultured limb mesenchyme and mesectoderm to synthesize type X collagen, a marker highly selective for hypertrophic cartilage. High density cultures of limb mesenchyme from stage 23 and 24 chick embryos contain many cells that react positively for type II collagen by immunohistochemistry, but only a few of these initiate type X collagen synthesis. When limb mesenchyme cells are cultured in or on hydrated collagen gels or in agarose (conditions previously shown to promote chondrogenesis in low density cultures), almost all initiate synthesis of both collagen types. Similarly, collagen gel cultures of limb mesenchyme from stage 17 embryos synthesize type II collagen and with some additional delay type X collagen. However, cytochalasin D treatment of subconfluent cultures on plastic substrates, another treatment known to promote chondrogenesis, induces the production of type II collagen, but not type X collagen. These results demonstrate that the appearance of type X collagen in limb cartilage is environmentally regulated. Mesectodermal cells from the maxillary process of stages 24 and 28 chick embryos were cultured in or on hydrated collagen gels. Such cells initiate synthesis of type II collagen, and eventually type X collagen. Some cells contain only type II collagen and some contain both types II and X collagen. On the other hand, cultures of mandibular processes from stage 29 embryos contain chondrocytes with both collagen types and a larger overall number of chondrogenic foci than the maxillary process cultures. Since the maxillary process does not produce cartilage in situ and the mandibular process forms Meckel's cartilage which does not hypertrophy in situ, environmental influences, probably inhibitory in nature, must regulate chondrogenesis in mesectodermal derivatives. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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The effects of Streptomyces hyaluronidase on tissue organization and cell cycle time in rat embryos.

Day 9 rat embryos (late presomite stage with cranial neural plate or very early neural folds) were cultured for various periods of time from 6-48 h in medium containing 20 TRU ml-1 Streptomyces hyaluronidase. Exposure to the enzyme resulted in considerable reduction of mesenchymal extracellular matrix. Access of the enzyme to the embryo was confirmed by alcian blue staining which indicated considerable reduction of extracellular and cell surface hyaluronate. Cranial neurulation was retarded, but not inhibited, and migration of both neural crest and primary mesenchyme cells occurred. In general, morphology was normal at 48 h. The major effect was on growth: embryos were smaller, with slightly reduced neuroepithelial cell number and greatly reduced mesenchymal cell number. Neuroepithelial cell cycle time was slightly prolonged, and that of the mesenchyme more than doubled. This differential effect on the growth rates of these two tissues reflects the normal distribution of hyaluronate, which is particularly abundant in the mesenchymal extracellular matrix.

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