Adhesive selectivity is exhibited in vitro by cells from adjacent tissues of the embryonic chick retina.

Cells from anatomically remote organs of developing embryos do not normally encounter one another. If intercellular adhesive selectivity has a role in determining or maintaining the position of cells in organs, it should be exhibited between cells which are found in close proximity within a single organ. To test this hypothesis, a collecting cell-sheet assay for intercellular adhesive selectivity has been applied to cells from 3 layers of the retina of the embryonic chick. The finding of a modest degree of selectivity of adhesion between cells from the neural retina and choroid supports the hypothesis. The observed selective low adhesiveness for self of the upper surface of pigmented retina epithelium emphasizes the likely morphogenetic significance of the topographical distribution of intercellular adhesiveness.