In vitro assays for the developmental toxicity of xenobiotic compounds using differentiating embryonal carcinoma cells in culture.

Murine embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells, which resemble the undifferentiated cells of the epiblast in the blastocyst, were used to establish two in vitro assays for developmental toxicants. The target processes in the assays are the differentiation of EC cells into endodermal and mesodermal derivatives, respectively. These processes were selected because they are crucial and specific for embryogenesis, and also because EC cell differentiation has been shown to be sensitive to various compounds that are teratogenic in vivo.