Positive Mucin Clot Test in Supernates of Cultures of Avian Embryonic Brain.

Abstract

Formation of a mucin clot (mc) on addition of about 0.2ml of I N acetic acid to 1 ml culture fluid indicates the presence of highly polymerized hyaluronic acid (HA), if me formation can be prevented by hyaluronidase. The lowest concentration of HA giving a positive me test is 30[mu]g/ml. Multiplication by 30 of the minimal amount of fluid (y) which prevents mc formation, allowed a rough estimation of the concentration of HA in the original undiluted sample: X = (1 -i- y)30. The culture fluid obtained from tissue cultures of avian brain gave a positive me test for over 2 months. This constitutes further evidence for the existence in the central nervous system of a hyaluronic acid containing ground substance, filling the spaces between neuroglia fibrils, axon terminations and dendrites.