Spreading of explants of embryonic chick mesenchymes and epithelia on fibronectin and laminin.

Tissues from 2.5-day chick embryos were explanted onto glass coated with adsorbed fibronectin or laminin, or extracellular matrices (ECM) of deoxycholate-extracted chick embryo cells. Spreading of somitic and trunk neural-crest mesenchyme cells was equally rapid and extensive on fibronectin, laminin and on the fibronectin-rich, laminin-poor ECM produced by mesenchymal cells. No preference for fibronectin over laminin was displayed by these two mesenchymes when a choice of mutually exclusive alternating tracks was provided. Epithelial cells did not spread from explants of the neural tube on any substrate tested up to 24 h in vitro, but adhesion of the explant and outgrowth of axons was greatest on laminin. Explants of endodermal epithelium spread rapidly on or near ECM formed by endoderm cells. This ECM was deficient in laminin but contained dense fibronectin fibers. Spreading was less rapid on fibronectin, and even more retarded on laminin. Ectodermal epithelium explants spread rapidly on and near fibronectin-rich, laminin-poor ECM produced by ectoderm cells, and almost as rapidly on laminin, but spreading was strongly delayed and reduced on fibronectin. The observations suggest that the mesenchymal nature of somite and neural crest cells does not correspond to a lowered responsiveness to laminin relative to fibronectin, while the relationship between laminin and superior epithelial cell spreading should not be generalized. The spreading of the epithelia on complex ECM also indicates the presence of a component(s) other than fibronectin or laminin, which strongly promote(s) spreading. In addition, the methods used indicate that plasma fibronectin and laminin do not specifically bind to each other, and that bovine serum albumen may be inadequate in preventing the attachment of proteins, especially laminin, to cell culture substrates.