Formation of the Primitive Streak and Mesoderm Cells in Mouse Embryos-Detailed Scanning Electron Microscopical Study:...

We describe morphological events of the mammalian gastrulation in pre- to middle-primitive-streakstage mouse embryos by using scanning electron microscopy. The first sign of the ingression of the mesodermal cells was disruption of the epithelial structure of ectoderm and the underlying basal lamina, thus forming a semicircular area of the presumptive primitive streak. Then, cells at periphery of the semicircular region spread on the basal lamina by extending many filopodia to it. The majority of the migrating cells formed a loosely arranged cell sheet. We found solitary cells and isolated small groups of cells migrating away from the periphery of the cell sheet. These cells were well spread on the basal lamina, and had large cell processes and many filopodia in the direction of cell migration. Filopodia of these cells were attached to the basal lamina or a meshwork of the extracellular fibrils. These observations suggest that the extracellular matrix serves as the substratum for cell adhesion and migration, and plays an important role in the mammalian gastrulation.