Morphologic evidence for collagen changes in chick embryos treated with beta-aminopropionitrile.

Electron microscope analysis of thin sections of intact skin from 17 day chick embryos injected with beta-aminopropionitrile 3 days earlier, revealed markedly increased dispersion in fibril diameter both above and below the narrow distribution of normal fibril size. Extraction with cold 1 M neutral saline caused a dissolution of the fibrils to fine filaments of varying diameters. Histologic examination of the connective tissue of lathyritic skin prior to extraction revealed little difference from the normal.