A role for fibronectin in the migration of avian precardiac cells. I. Dose-dependent effects of fibronectin antibody.

An anterior-posterior concentration difference of fibronectin associated with the endoderm in early chick embryos has been implicated in the directional migration of precardiac mesoderm cells. We have examined the effect of increasing concentrations of an antibody to fibronectin (FN) to test the essentiality of FN to precardiac cell migration. For controls embryos were incubated in the presence of antibodies produced against several other extracellular components, such as laminin and anti-collagen types I and IV, as well as against integrin, a cell surface FN receptor. Embryos were also incubated in the presence of a high concentration of exogenous FN, as well as in the presence of an RGD-containing synthetic pentapeptide that is recognized by the FN receptor. After incubation of chick embryos in various concentrations of anti-FN (5 to 80 micrograms/ml), a dose-dependent effect of anti-fibronectin was observed, whereby heart development was arrested at high concentrations of anti-FN. Early developmental stages were more susceptible to lower antibody concentrations than later stages. Incubation in the presence of the RGD-containing synthetic peptide resulted in partial cardiabifida. None of the antibodies serving as controls affected cell migration or early heart development. These results support the hypothesis that FN is a major component in the migratory pathway and plays a role in the directional migration of precardiac cells to the embryonic midline.