Response of epithelial and mesenchymal cells to culture on basement lamella observed by scanning microscopy

The basement lamella of Xenopus tadpole skin has been viewed in situ by scanning microscopy, then isolated by trypsin treatment and used as a substrate for cell culture. The basal lamina may also be viewed after EDTA treatment. Responses of epithelial and mesenchymal cells to the lamella have been compared. Mesenchymal cells from chick skin and heart ventricle flatten and attach between the plies of the lamella, then infiltrate it. Myoblasts appear to move less readily within the lamella. Embryonic Xenopus skin epithelium spreads over the surface. Isolated chick skin epithelial cells first begin to spread, then round up and eventually attach to each other in clusters which form a flat basal surface above the lamella. Thus epithelial and mesenchymal cells cultured on this isolated extracellular material mimic aspects of normal tissue organization.