Abstract
Summary
The substituted serine O-diazoacetyl-L-serine (azaserine) was shown to produce teratogenic changes in the chick embryo when inoculated over the blastoderm at 48 hours of incubation. Such changes, observed on gross examination of harvested specimens within 24 hours after inoculation, consisted of general growth inhibition, general developmental retardation and specific retardation in the development of the encephalon, optic cup and lens vesicle. Examination of embryos allowed to continue incubation for longer periods of time revealed that teratogenic changes were present in a high percentage of the surviving embryos. Retardation of the encephalon was less apparent on gross examination of older embryos, but retardation of the limb buds was observed in high percentage of embryos examined from 3 days after inoculation up to the time of hatching. No gross changes were observed when control inoculations were made using saline or unsubstituted L-serine. The possible application of this technic in the study of antitumor agents was discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.