Tenascin and neural crest morphogenesis

38O TENASCIN AND NEURAL CREST MORPHOGENESIS. R.P. Tucker, E.J. Mackie, W. Halfter and R. Chiquet-Ehrismann. Friedrich Miescher-Institut, CH-4002, Basel, Switzerland We have investigated the distribution of tenascin, an extracellular matrix glycoprotein with a variety of proposed roles in morphogenesis and oncogenesis (Chiquet-Ehrismann et al., Cell 47:131, 1986), along the migratory pathways of the neural crest in both avian and amphibian embryos. Immunohistochemistry reveals patterns of tenascin staining that correlate more precisely with pathways of neural crest migration than the distribution of fibronectin. As has been demonstrated previously with fibronectin, tenascin is not detected in a matrix around quail neural crest cells in vitro, whereas it is detected in the matrix around explants of somites and notochords. The rounded morphology of neural crest cells cultured on tenascin suggests that tenascin alone is a relatively non-adhesive substratum for the neural crest.

134S