PATTERNS OF ADHESIVE SPECIFICITY IN THE DEVELOPING CENTRAL NERVOUS-SYSTEM OF THE CHICK

A monolayer adhesion assay is used to measure the adhesive specificity of cells from the developing chick central nervous system. Telencephalic cells bind preferentially to mesencephalic cells in comparison to homologous cells. Mesencephalic cells bind preferentially to telencephalic cells in comparison to homologous cells. In the case of the telencephalon, heterologous specificity is measurable on the fifth through ninth days of embryonic life. Mesencephalic cells show a dramatic change in adhesive specificity between the fifth and seventh days of development. The developing optic tectum displays clear-cut regional differences in adhesive specificity. Anterior tectal cells bind preferentially to posterior tectal cells and posterior tectal cells bind preferentially to anterior tectal cells. The dorsal and ventral halves of the neural retina have distinguishable adhesive specificities for developing central nervous system cells. Dorsal retinal cells bind preferentially to mesencephalic cells rather than telencephalic cells while ventral retinal cells show the opposite behavior. The relevance of these findings to morphogenesis in the developing nervous system is discussed. © 1979 Academic Press, Inc. All rights reserved.