Maturation and differentiation of cultured fetal stomach. Effects of corticosteroids, pentagastrin, and cytochalasin B

Gastric mucosa of fetal rats undergoes striking developmental changes during the last few days of gestation in utero. To investigate some aspects of this process, gastric explants from 18-day fetuses (4 days before birth) were maintained in organ culture for 3 days, then assessed by light and electron microscopy. The epithelia from base line uncultured stomachs were stratified and morphologically undifferentiated. During culture in basic medium (Leibovitz L 15), modest maturation of antral and fundic architecture occurred, characterized by epithelial invagination to produce small pit-glands. Secretory granules appeared in occasional epithelial cells, and cytochemistry indicated that most were mucous granules. Addition of pentagastrin (10(-9) to 2 X 10(-7) M) did not induce further morphological maturation in this system. However, addition of cortisol (10(-6) to 10(-5) M) resulted in a marked, dose-related increase of pit-gland formation and of cytological differentiation (appearance of secretory granules). This cortisol-induced architectural maturation was completely inhibited by the mold metabolite cytochalasin B (10(-5) M). The results indicate that fetal gastric maturation can be partially reproduced by culture in chemically defined media, and also suggest that corticosteroids may plan an important role in gastric organogenesis.