title: Cyclic AMP and cell differentiation in amphibian embryonic explants.
abstract: Conflicting results have been published concerning the effects of cyclic nucleotides on amphibian cell differentiation. Here we report the effects of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and dibutyryl-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (db-cAMP) on isolated explants from late blastulae of Ambystoma mexicanum and Xenopus laevis. Both cAMP and db-cAMP (10(-4)-10(-9) M) promote 'neuralizing' differentiation in Ambystoma explants. Xenopus explants treated with the nucleotides (10(-4), 10(-6), 10(-8) M) LiCl or heparan sulphate only give rise to ciliated aggregates or dissociation. The results confirm observations that different amphibian species react in different ways to activating chemicals.
mesh_terms: D000557:Ambystoma; D000818:Animals; D003994:Bucladesine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004475:Ectoderm / Q000166:cytology; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology*; D004707:Endoderm / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D006497:Heparan Sulfate / Q000494:pharmacology; D014981:Xenopus
chemical_list: D003994:Bucladesine; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D006497:Heparan Sulfate