A rapid method for preparing avian tracheal rings for organ culture

A simple, rapid method for preparing rings from chicken tracheas is described. Using a polyacrylamide disc gel slicer, up to 100 uniform tracheal rings were obtained from two tracheas with a single cut and without injury to the ciliated tracheal epithelium. The responses of rings cut with a disc gel slicer and those cut conventionally with a scalpel blade were compared by virus titration, virus neutralization, and viability of uninfected 18-day-old-chick embryo rings over a nine-day incubation period. Rings cut with a disc gel slicer did not differ significantly from those cut conventionally with respect to virus titer, neutralization indices, or viability. A disc gel slicer expedites the preparation of functional rings and offers an alternative to the present method of cutting tracheal rings with a scalpel blade.