DIFFERENTIATION INVITRO OF SEA-URCHIN MICROMERES ON EXTRACELLULAR-MATRIX IN THE ABSENCE OF SERUM

Previous investigations have demonstrated that differentiation in vitro of micromeres from sea urchin embryos requires the presence of serum. In this report we demonstrate that differentiation of micromeres, as judged by their ability to form spicules, will occur in the absence of serum if the cells are cultured on a reconstituted extracellular matrix prepared from Engelbreth‐Holm‐Swarm (EHS) tumors. These results suggest that a permissive environment provided by the EHS matrix is sufficient to induce micromere differentiation and may allow the isolation and characterization of the active component. Copyright © 1990 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company