Interrelationship between cyclic AMP level and chondrogenesis in vitro.

A consistent chondrogenesis takes place in micro-mass cultures of stage 23-24 chicken limb bud mesenchymal cells. In these cultures a short, marked elevation of cAMP level was detected at the time of the onset of cartilage phenotype expression. On the other hand, exogeneous glycosaminoglycans which inhibited chondrogenesis caused a reduction in the cAMP level of the cells. These correlations between cAMP level and phenotypic characteristics suggest that, among other things required in chondrogenesis, cAMP level may be a prominent factor.