The role of epithelial collagen and proteoglycan in the initiation of osteogenesis by avian neural crest cells.

Osteogenesis was inhibited when mandibular processes from 3 1/2-day-old embryos were cultured in BUdR, LACA, alpha, alpha'-Dipyridyl, 4-Methylumbelliferone, and 4-Methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-glucoside or beta-D-xyloside. Mandibular processes were then cultured in the test substances for 3 days, enzymatically separated into their epithelial and ectomesenchymal components, combined with mandibular components from untreated embros, and either organ-cultured or grafted to chorioallantoic membranes of host embryos. Osteogenesis was inhibited when treated epithelium, but not when treated ectomesenchyme, was present in the tissue recombinations. Analysis of the known action of these inhibitors indicates that proliferation, hydroxylation of collagen, and synthesis of proteoglycans by epithelial cells are all necessary components of this osteogenic epithelial-ectomesenchymal interaction.