The interkinetic migration of embryonic epithelial nuclei

Abstract

Abstract Nuclei of columnar epithelia of vertebrate embryos move to the free epithelial surface before a division, the movement of the nucleus accompanying a shortening of the columnar cell. After division at the free surface the daughter cells elongate, the nuclei passing away from the free surface. This is illustrated by drawings and measurements of cells of the fore‐gut it of the garter snake embryo. The elongation of these cells after mitosis is associated with an elongation of the spindle fibers to produce a prominent cytoplasmic fiber which persists through the interkinetic stage and into the next mitosis. The appearance of nests of nuclei in mitosis is accounted for by the fact that descendants of an earlier cell have kept approximately in step in their divisions.