Development of neuroepithelial bodies in intact and cultured lungs of fetal rats.

Intact, 14- to 21-day fetal rat lung pairs, neonatal lungs, and cultured 15- and 16-day lung explants were examined in 2-micron-thick glycol methacrylate sections stained by PAS-lead hematoxylin. Selected stages were also studied in histochemical preparations for aliesterase and formaldehyde-induced monoamine fluorescence, as well as by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Neuroepithelial bodies (NEBs) first appear in pseudoglandular lungs at 15 days in vivo as pyramidal groups of basal, diffusely lead-hematoxylin-positive cells in glycogen-depleted epithelium of main and lobar bronchi.