[Mouse teratocarcinoma: differentiation in cultures of a multipotential primitive cell line (author's transl)].

A line of primitive cells of teratocarcinoma is able of differentiating during in vitro cultures. The differentiated cell types correspond to derivatives of the three germ layers. They appear according to a reproducible schedule. The differentiated cell types exhibit a normal karyotype. They have lost their tumorigenicity and have a limited life span. Agregates containing various numbers of primitive cells have been prepared and plated in culture dishes. Their study shows that the first differentiated cell types appear only when the agregates are greater than a certain critical mass. Primitive cells carry on their surface the F9 but not the H-2 antigen. During differentiation in culture, the H-2 antigen appears rapidly on certain cells. The fraction of H-2-carrying cells increases as a function of time while that of F9-carrying cells decreases.