The enteric nervous system of vertebrates is derived from neural crest cells that invade the gut wall and generate a highly organised network of enteric ganglia. Among the genes that play an important role in ENS development is c-Ret, mutations of which result in failure of formation of enteric ganglia (intestinal aganglionosis). To further understand the development of the mammalian ENS in gen...

Adrenocortical carcinoma tissue removed from a mildly hirsute 16-year-old girl was cultured in order to assess steroidogenesis and responsiveness of the cells to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), and insulin. The cells in culture produced large amounts of androstenedione and testosterone; however, production of cortisol, which was initially high, decreased ...

The proliferation and differentiation potentiality of the rat visceral yolk sac was investigated both in organ culture and after grafting in vivo. Using alkaline phosphatase as a marker for germ cells, it was shown that these cells are absent in the 12-day-old visceral yolk sac examined before and after organ culture. Therefore, the only cells that proliferate and differentiate must be of endod...

Here, we present a novel method for culturing kidneys in low volumes of medium that offers more organotypic development compared to conventional methods. Organ culture is a powerful technique for studying renal development. It recapitulates many aspects of early development very well, but the established techniques have some disadvantages: in particular, they require relatively large volumes (1...

We have used an in vitro system to study the effects of major histocompatibility complex class I binding peptides on thymic development. Fetal thymus lobes from mice deficient in the class I light chain (beta 2 microglobulin or beta 2 M-/-) were cultured for 10 d in vitro, during which time T cell precursors develop into mature T cells. In these organ cultures, as in the adult or neonatal beta ...

Virulent strains of Mycoplasma pneumoniae, PI-1428 and M129, were radiolabeled wtih [3H]palmitic acid or [3H]thymidine and examined for attachment to hamster tracheal organ cultures, tracheal outgrowth monolayers, human O-positive erythrocytes, and human WiDr carcinoma cell cultures. Although attachment to each cell substrate was readily detected, the WiDr cell culture monolayers provided the m...

Bronchial secretion forms a periciliary liquid layer and may also give rise to thicker secretion that moves on the tips of the cilia. This latter material as collected at bronchoscopy or coughed up as sputum is a viscoelastic substance behaving in a characteristic way over a wide range of shear rates. The anatomical basis of secretion is described and its control as established by organ culture.