RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan is involved in lens vesicle morphogenesis in chick embryos A1 Gato Casado, Ángel Luis A1 Martín, C. A1 Alonso Revuelta, María Isabel A1 Martínez Álvarez, C. A1 Moro Balbás, José Antonio K1 Embriología AB Proteoglycans have been implicated in the invagination and formation of various embryonal cavitiedprimordia. In this paper the expression of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan is analysed (CSPG) in the lensprimordium during lens vesicle formation, and demonstrate that this proteoglycan has a speci®cdistribution pattern with regard to invagination and fusion processes in the transformation of placode intolens vesicle. More speci®cally, CSPG was detached in: (1) the apical surface of lens epithelial cells, whereearly CSPG expression was observed in the whole of the lens placode whilst in the vesicle phase it wasrestricted to the posterior epithelium; (2) intense CSPG expression in the basal lamina, which remainedconstant for the entire period under study; (3) CSPG expression in the intercellular spaces of the lensprimordium epithelium, which increased during the invagination of the primordium and which at thevesicle stage was more evident in the posterior epithelium; and (4) CSPG expression on the edges of thelens placode both prior to and during fusion. Treatment with b-D-xyloside causes signi®cant CSPGdepletion in the lens primordium together with severe alterations in the invagination and fusion of thelens vesicle; this leads to the formation of lens primordia which in some cases remain practically ¯at orshow partial invagination defects or fusion disruption. Similar results were obtained by enzyme digestionwith chondroitinase AC but not with type II heparinase, which indicates that alterations induced by b-Dxylosidewere due to interference in CSPG synthesis. The ®ndings demonstrate that CSPG is a commoncomponent of the lens primordium at the earliest developmental stages during which it undergoes speci®cmodi®cations. It also includes experimental evidence to show that `in vivo' CSPG plays an important rolein the invagination and fusion processes of the lens primordium. # 2001 Academic PressKey words: lens development; CSPG; b-D-xyloside; extracellular matrix; epithelial invagination PB Ideal SN 0014-4835 YR 2001 FD 2001 LK http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/4946 UL http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/4946 LA eng NO Exp. Eye. Res., 2001, 58 p.1-8 NO Producción Científica DS UVaDOC RD 18-abr-2024