Summary
Differential growth of the three major facial primordia, the frontonasal mass, maxilla and mandible, results in a characteristic face shape. Abnormal growth of any of the primordia can lead to facial defects. In order to dissect out the factors that control growth, we developed a functional assay for cell proliferation using micromass culture and defined medium. Cell number was determined over a 4 day period and BrdU incorporation was used to determine the percentage of cells in S-phase. In defined medium, cell number progressively decreases and proliferation is very reduced in cultures of cells from all three primordia. When foetal calf serum was added, frontonasal mass cell number triples, mandible doubles and maxilla increases by half. The number of cells in S-phase increased in every case but the final cell number reflects a balance between proliferation and cell loss from the culture. The addition of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) to defined medium leads to an increase in cell number in the frontonasal mass, while the cell number of mandibular and maxillary cultures is relatively unaffected. The percentage of cells in S-phase is highest in frontonasal mass cultures. Serum and bFGF both increase chondrogenesis in frontonasal mass cultures when compared to defined medium. In contrast in mandibular cultures, serum does not change the amount of cartilage and with bFGF chondrogenesis is reduced. The coordination of the changes in proliferation and differentiation in frontonasal mass cultures suggest that either these two processes are independently stimulated to the same extent or a single subpopulation of cells is stimulated to divide and differentiate into chondrocytes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Article navigation
Related articles
Cited by...
More in this TOC section
Similar articles
Other journals from The Company of Biologists
A new Editor-in-Chief for Development
“I'm very keen that Development continues to innovate and support our community.”
We're delighted to announce the appointment of James Briscoe, Group Leader at The Francis Crick Institute, London, as our new Editor-in-Chief. Read our interview with James to find out his career and research interests, the importance of interdisciplinary thinking in developmental biology, and his views on the current state and future opportunities in scientific publishing. Also, check out the Editorial from Sarah Bray, Kate Storey and Katherine Brown to learn more about the announcement, and about our recent community consultation.
Review – Developing in 3D: the role of CTCF in cell differentiation
In this Review, Rodrigo G. Arzate-Mejía, Félix Recillas-Targa and Victor G. Corces discuss evidence linking CTCF to the control of developmental processes in various cell and tissue types through 3D organization of the genome.
From stem cells to human development – meeting reporter competition
In September, Development is hosting our next meeting focusing on human developmental biology. We are excited to announce a competition for a reporter to cover the meeting for the Node. The winner will get free registration to the meeting, and it’s a fantastic opportunity to practice your science communication skills - find out more here.
Spotlight – Susan Strome
“I realised that I could think it through on my own – I didn't require that my advisor tell me what to do or how to do it”
Recently appointed an editor at Development, we caught up with Susan to discuss her early career switch from prokaryotes to worms, her experiences of small and big science, and why teaching is so important to her.
On the Node – The people behind the papers
Development and homeostasis depend crucially on the maintenance of cell identity, and in gamete-producing tissues the somatic/germline distinction is paramount. A recent paper in Development explores how cell identity is secured in the Drosophila ovary by studying the function of the conserved tumour suppressor L(3)mbt. To find out more about the story, the Node caught up with first author Rémi-Xavier Coux and his supervisor Ruth Lehmann of the Skirball Institute at New York University School of Medicine.
Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting
Development is a proud sponsor of the upcoming Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting, which takes place 11-15 August 2018 at the University of California, Santa Cruz . Registration for this meeting is now open!
Articles of interest in our sister journals
Rap1, Canoe and Mbt cooperate with Bazooka to promote zonula adherens assembly in the fly photoreceptor
Rhian F. Walther, Mubarik Burki, Noelia Pinal, Clare Rogerson, Franck Pichaud. J Cell Sci 2018 131: jcs207779.
H2AFX and MDC1 promote maintenance of genomic integrity in male germ cells
Erika Testa, Daniela Nardozi, Cristina Antinozzi, Monica Faieta, Stefano Di Cecca, Cinzia Caggiano, Tomoyuki Fukuda, Elena Bonanno, Lou Zhenkun, Andros Maldonado, Ignasi Roig, Monica Di Giacomo, Marco Barchi. J Cell Sci 2018 131: jcs214411.