[Lenticular and adenohypophyseal differentiation in the oral region ectoderm of chick embryos in tissue culture].

The ectoderm of oral regions from the chick embryos at the stage of 10 to 19 somites was cultivated in vitro and on chorioallantois in the complex with underlying tissues. In all the explants which, besides ectoderm, contained head gut and mesenchyme, lentoids and lenses formed within 6 days of in vitro cultivation. All specific antigens of chicken lens (alpha, beta- and delta-crystallins) were found in them by means of immunofluorescence. In the explants which contained diencephalon, besides single lentoids or lenses, adenohypophyses were found. The possibility of direct lens-inducing effect of the head gut endoderm on the ectoderm of oral region and the participation of diencephalon in this process are discussed.