Chemically induced bidirectional differentiation of embryonal carcinoma cells in vitro.

N,N-dimethylacetamide, hexamethylene bisacetamide, and Polybrene induced rapid and extensive differentiation in vitro in an otherwise slowly differentiating subline of embryonal carcinoma cells. The type of differentiated cell induced was dependent on the spatial organization of the stem cells during drug treatment. In monalayer culture "epithelial" cells were produced exclusively. However, treatment of aggregated suspension cultures yielded predominantly "fibroblast-like" cells. The undifferentiated embryonal carcinoma cells and the two differentiated cell types were morphologically distinct when examined by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy; and they had differences in cell surface antigens. Both differential cell types produced large amounts of fibronectin, whereas the embryonal carcinoma cells produced only minimal amounts. This system provides a convenient way to induce relatively synchronous differentiation of embryonal carcinoma cells into specific differentiated cell types.