David G. Pechak

Hyaluronic acid bonded to cell culture surfaces inhibits the program of myogenesis.

Primary isolates of chick leg muscle myoblasts cultured on hyaluronic acid substrates have been examined by transmission electron microscopy for evidence of myoblast fusion and subsequent differentiation. Even though these cells form close contacts, no evidence of multinucleated myotubes is found in these cultures. Two-dimensional SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis shows that the muscle macromolecular biosynthetic program is not initiated in these hyaluronic acid fusion-blocked cells. Further, these fusion-blocked myoblasts continue replicating while cultured on hyaluronic acid surfaces. The inhibition of both fusion and the myogenic expressional program is reversed by replating these myoblasts onto a denatured collagen (gelatin) substrate; both the synthesis of muscle-specific proteins and the formation of multinucleated myotubes are observed when these subcultured cells are introduced onto gelatin substrates. These observations indicate that the hyaluronic acid inhibition of fusion is not permanent and is manifested in a way different from other fusion blockers in that hyaluronic acid inhibits both fusion and the myogenic expressional program.

Morphological and histochemical events during first bone formation in embryonic chick limbs

Staged embryos from White Leghorn chicken eggs were used to assemble a detailed morphological, cellular and molecular picture of the complex events of first-bone formation. To provide these details, light and electron microscopic, histochemical and immunocytochemical techniques were used to establish a temporal sequence for long bone development in chick wing and leg from Hamburger-Hamilton stage 29 through stage 35. Three distinctive cell regions can be morphologically identified by stage 28 (leg) or 29 (wing) at the mid-diaphysis. These regions are: 1. an outer grouping of loose mesenchymal and myogenic cells, 2. an osteoprogenitor layer which will later divide to maintain this progenitor layer in a brickwork or stacked configuration and to produce round, tightly packed osteoblasts, and 3. a core (rod) of cartilage. First bone is laid down just outside the cartilage core, initially as a layer of Type I collagen-rich osteoid which later becomes mineralized. Vascular elements then come to reside above this mineral layer, and osteoid is laid down between vascular elements and eventually above them to form a second layer of trabecular bone. As this radial formation of layers of bone is progressing, so too is the proximal and distal expansion of the first bone forming process. A model is presented which considers that chondrogenic and osteogenic cell commitment occur simultaneously in early limb development and that it is the expression of the osteogenic phenotype which governs the boundaries of cartilage development. Importantly, the vasculature plays a key role in the patterning of bone formation well before it enters the cartilaginous core at stage 35 and participates in the erosion of the core. While this report is restricted to events occurring through stage 35, it relies on data presented in a companion report detailing later bone development and remodeling (Pechak et al; Bone 1986) and emphasizes that the cartilage model does not provide the scaffolding for bone but rather defines the marrow space.

Morphology of bone development and bone remodeling in embryonic chick limbs

Staged embryos from White Leghorn chicken eggs were used to assemble a detailed morphological sequence of events occurring in long bone development from Hamburger-Hamilton stage 32 through stage 44 and 2 days post hatching. The detailed patterning of osteoblasts, osteoid, mineral, and vasculature were observed at the mid-diaphysis of the tibia. At stage 32, the cartilage core is composed of hypertrophic chondrocytes and is surrounded by a continuous ring of mineralized osteoid on which osteoblasts and vasculature reside. At stage 35, the vasculature and associated cell types invade the cartilage core region. By stage 37, marrow occupies the entire cartilage core region at the mid-diaphysis. Anastamosing channels, containing vasculature, interconnect with each other and the marrow region to the inside and the periosteal region to the outside. Clearly, the cartilage is replaced by marrow, not bone. Mineral deposition at the periosteal surface continues through stage 44 as does mineral resorption on the endosteal surface, although the rate of mineral deposition and resorption varies at different developmental stages. Vasculature plays an important role in the pattern formation of the trabeculae and their channels as can be seen in the developmental sequence within one bone (the tibia) or comparisons between two bones (the tibia and fibula). A model is presented which considers the possibility that osteoprogenitor cells are formed as early as the chondroprogenitor cells. This model also emphasizes the observation that cartilage is not replaced by bone but is replaced by marrow.

Ozone and Sulfur Dioxide Effects on the Ultrastructure of the Chloroplasts of Hybrid Poplar Leaves

This report is concerned with the effects of ozone and sulfur dioxide, alone and in combination, on leaf chloroplasts of a deciduous woody plant. Populus deltoides represents one of the few deciduous plants to be studied for the effects of these two common air pollutants. This report details the results of these pollutants on hybrid poplar leaf mesophyll cells under similar experimental conditions as above, but processed for conventional transmission electron microscopy.