In vitro study of chorionic and ectoplacental trophoblast differentiation in the mouse.

Mouse chorioallantoic pre-placental structures alone or in association with the embryo were explanted during the 9th day of gestation (7-somite stage) and cultured in a static medium for 24 to 48 h. From the subsequent morphological study of trophoblast differentiation, using both light and electron microscopy, we draw the following conclusions. 1. The allantoic mesoderm cells migrate inside the trophoblastic population but they do not differentiate a capillary network and trophoblast cells phagocytose the existing foetal erythrocytes. 2. In the absence of allantoic mesoderm, chorionic trophoblast cells remain undifferentiated. 3. The development of the chorionic trophoblast is modified in that chorionic trophoblast cells fail to establish close junctions with ectoplacental trophoblast, and some chorionic cells initiate the formation of multinucleated syncytia. The genesis of these syncytia is discussed.