Researches on the macrophage reaction in embryonic necrotic foci by means of cell cultures.
Macrophage transformation of the fibroblasts and the attraction of macrophages in cell cultures of chick embryo have been investigated. Cultures were treated with choline hydrochloride, DNA, lactalbumine hydrolysate, lysine, peptone and ATP. An intense agglomeration of macrophages in the contact area with the agar gel containing choline could be observed. Cultures treated with DNA have a great number of macrophages together with a numerous fibroblast population. In cultures treated with the other substances, macrophages also appear, yet their number is not so great. The results obtained plead for a triggering of the macrophage reaction and of the necrosis in embryo tissues and organs by substances identical or similar to those used in our cultures.