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Embryonic midfacial palatal organ culture methods in developmental toxicology
Citation:
Abbott, B. Embryonic midfacial palatal organ culture methods in developmental toxicology. Developmental Toxicology: Meethods and Protocols.. Humana Press Incorporated, Totowa, NJ, , 93-105, (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9182-2
Impact/Purpose:
This is an invited chapter for the series "Developmental Toxicology: Methods and Protocols. Second Edition. The format of the book is to provide detailed practical procedures to support research in the field of developmental toxicology. The chapter provides information and detailed protocols for palatal organ cultures, an approach successfully applied by the author to studies of mechanisms involved in the induction of cleft palate. Research using this model provided much of the foundational knowledge currently being used in the development of human in vitro 3-D culture models to mimic palatal fusion events.
Description:
The morphogenesis of the secondary palate provides an interesting model for many of the processes involved in embryonic development. A number of in vitro models have been used to study craniofacial development, including whole embryo culture, palatal mesenchymal and micromass cell cultures, and Trowell’s-like palatal cultures in which dissected palates are cultured individually or as pairs in contact on a support above medium. This chapter presents a detailed protocol for the culture of maxillary mid-facial tissues, including the palatal shelves, in suspension culture. This method involves isolation of the mid-facial tissues (maxillary arch and palatal shelves) and suspension of the tissues in medium in flasks. On a rocker in an incubator, the palatal shelves elevate, grow, make contact and fuse in a time span analogous to that occurring in the intact embryo in utero.
