Developmental aspects of secondary palate formation.

Research on development of the secondary palate has, in the past, dealt primarily with morphological aspects of shelf elevation and fusion. The many factors thought to be involved in palatal elevation, such as fetal neuromuscular activity and growth of the cranial base and mandible, as well as production of extracellular matrix and contractile elements in the palate, are mostly based on gross, light microscopic, morphometric or histochemical observations. Recently, more biochemical procedures have been utilized to described palatal shelf elevation. Although these studies strongly suggest that palatal extracellular matrix plays a major role in shelf movement, interpretation of these data remains difficult owing to the complexity of tissue interactions involved in craniofacial development. Shelf elevation does not appear to involve a single motive factor, but rather a coordinated interaction of all of the abovementioned developmental events. Further analysis of mechanisms of shelf elevation requires development of new, and refinement of existing, in vitro procedures. A system that enables one to examine shelf elevation in vitro would allow more meaningful analysis of the relative importance of the various components in shelf movement. Much more is known about fusion of the palatal shelves, owing in large part to in vitro studies. Fusion of the apposing shelves, both in vivo and in vitro, is dependent upon adhesion and cell dealth of the midline epithelial cells. Adhesion betweeen apposing epithelial surfaces appears to involve epithelial cell surface macromolecules. Further analysis of palatal epithelial adhesion should be directed towards characterization of those cell surface components responsible for this adhesive interaction. Midline epithelial cells cease DNA synthesis 24-36 h before shelf elevation and contact, become active in the synthesis of cell surface glycoproteins, and subsequently manifest morphological signs of necrosis. Death of the midline epithelial cells is thought to involve a programmed, lysosomal-mediated autolysis...