Tissue Culture of Rat Tympanal Mesenchyme

Abstract

Mesenchyme from the rat's middle ear has been successfully grown in vitro, proving that this tissue does not have the intrinsic property of self-destruction since it was kept in a healthy, multiplying state long after its in vivo counterpart had perished. Three basic cell types were seen the commonest of which was the stellate mesenchymal cell which showed capacity for modulation to an epithelioid type and, most strikingly, a propensity for massive lipid accumulation. Less common were fibroblasts and true epithelial cells derived from branchial pouch entoderm.