The application of aqueous two-phase partition to the study of chick limb mesenchymal diversification

A technique which identifies cells differing in surface character, aqueous two-phase partition using thin-layer countercurrent distribution (TLCCD), has been used to study differentiation and pattern formation in the developing chick limb bud. The TLCCD profiles of cell populations, derived from various regions of morphologically undifferentiated mesenchyme from three different stages of limb development, have been compared. At no stage, or location, has the population been found to be homogeneous. Cells from progress zones and more proximal regions could all be resolved into several populations. The populations from progress zones at three different developmental stages were qualitatively similar but differed in the proportions of cells in each. The most striking differences in cell populations were those obtained from the most proximal region of the limb, closest to the flank, which represents the developmentally most advanced region.