Cyclic AMP and cell differentiation in amphibian embryonic explants

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.