Study of yolk-sac endoderm organogenesis in the chick using a specific enzyme (cysteine lyase) as a marker of cell differentiation.

The detection of a specific enzyme (cysteine lyase) of the yolk-sac endoderm by a very sensitive method is employed to characterize cell differentiation during the early stages of endoderm organogenesis in the chick. The first cells to contain active cysteine lyase are found in the germ wall at the primitive streak stage. /// vivo observations establish a relation between the morphological specialization and organization of endodermal cells, their loss of mitotic activity and the increase in cysteine lyase activity. They suggest an influence of the mesoderm on endoderm differentiation. In vitro experiments confirm the existence in the yolk-sac endoderm of an incompatibility between cell proliferation and differentiation, as well as the action of the mesoderm on both the structural organization of the endoblast and the appearance of cysteine lyase; this last action seems to be due mainly to blood cells; chicken and rabbit blood cells are equally active. The problems of the origin of the endoderm and of the interactions occurring during the organogenesis of the yolk-sac endoderm are discussed.