Calcium-transport function of the chick embryonic chorioallantoic membrane. I. In vivo and in vitro characterization.

During chick embryonic development, the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) is responsible for the mobilization of shell calcium into the embryonic circulation. The calcium-transport function of the CAM was studied here by measuring CAM calcium uptake in vivo and in vitro. The in vivo technique involved the use of an uptake chamber constructed on top of the CAM in situ. The in vitro methods included two systems: CAM tissue disks and cell-free microsomal membranes isolated from the CAM. Analyses using these three assays show that calcium uptake by the CAM exhibited characteristics indicative of active transport, such as temperature dependence, saturability, energetic requirement and ion specificity. The data also show that calcium-uptake activities of the CAM increase as a function of embryonic age in a manner coincident with the increased accumulation of calcium by the developing embryo in ovo.