Neural-tube defects caused by 5-bromodeoxyuridine in chicks.

Chick embryos were explanted at HH stage 4 and cultured for 24 h on thin albumen with 10 mug/ml 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). BrdU inhibited closure of the neural tube in over 90% of the embryos. Mitotic figures were found throughout adversely effected neuroepithelium, suggesting that interkinetic nuclear migration had been inhibited. Electron microscopic studies of BrdU-treated neural-tube cells showed fewer and more amorphous cytoplasmic extensions, microfilaments, and demosomal (juctional) tonofibrils than in controls, but microtubules were unaffected.