Maintenance of regionally specific patterns of cell proliferation and differentiation in transplanted skin and oral mucosa.

Specimens of mouse ear, footpad and tail skin and palatal, buccal and lingual mucosae were transplanted to protected sites prepared in histocompatible hosts either as intact tissues or recombined after separation of epithelial and connective tissue components using EDTA. Despite maintenance in a protected ectopic site for up to 9 weeks, transplants maintained regionally specific differences in histological appearance and rates of mitotic activity. A diurnal variation in mitotic activity comparable to host control tissues was reestablished.