Relation of cell division to the acquisition of responsiveness to cortisol in the neural retina of the chick embryo.

Responsiveness of the neural retina to cortisol, as measured by cortisol-induced glutamine synthetase activity, is acquired in the chick embryo during the second week of embryogenesis. The magnitude of the response is inversely related to the growth rate of the neural retina. This developmental event is also acquired by the 8-d-old neural retina under organ culture conditions. The acquisition of competence to respond to the hormonal stimulation can be reversibly abolished by inhibition of DNA synthesis with 0.01 mM cytosine arabinoside; the magnitude of response that resumes after withdrawal of the drug, is characterized by the stage of growth of the neural retina. Responsiveness to cortisol in the embryonic neural retina is apparently coupled to the number of Muller cells (the targets for cortisol action) that have withdrawn from the cell cycle.