Development of the notochord in human embryos: ultrastructural, histochemical, and immunohistochemical studies

In the present study of the notochord, the specimens were 54 externally normal human embryos ranging between Carnegie stages 13 and 23. The following staining procedures were used: periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), modified method of PAS, alcian blue, colloidal iron, and toluidine blue. Routine electron microscopic techniques were used. Immunoreactivity of the notochord to alpha-enolase was also examined. The notochord cells were undifferentiated in stage 13 with few intracellular organelles. The microfibrils and deposition of acid mucopolysaccharides appeared in the notochordal sheath in stage 14. The characteristic relation of mitochondria with rough endoplasmic reticulum was observed. Golgi complexes increased in the perinuclear region in stage 15. The layer of microfibrils in the notochordal sheath initially separated from the notochord in stage 16. Glycogen, mucoprotein, neutral mucopolysaccharides, and glycolipids began to increase in the mesenchymal cells around the notochord, starting at stage 16. Acid mucopolysaccharides increased in the notochordal sheath and in the matrix of the precartilage area around the notochord as this embryonic stage advanced. It was also revealed that the immunoreactivity of the notochord to alpha-enolase remained constant during the embryonic period. The results show that the notochord is transformed from an apparently undifferentiated organ into an organ with secretory activity in stage 14, producing microfibrils and depositing acid mucoplysaccharides in the notochordal sheath. The immunoreactivity of the notochord to alpha- and gamma-enolase isoenzymes and the development of the notochord are discussed. This study was undertaken to provide additional information on the development of tumors of notochordal origin.