Inhibition of cell proliferation by cytosin-arabinoside and its interference with spatial and temporal differentiation patterns in the chick retina

Incubation of chick embryos with 200 nmoles/ egg of cytosine arabinoside (AraC) completely inhibits cell proliferation in the embryo. At an age older than embryonic day 4 (E4) more than 90% of the embryos survive this treatment. The drug induces various malformations; in particular the retina is heavily affected. This simple method offers the possibility to study the effect of a more or less decreased cell production on processes of further differentiation and histogenesis of retinal tissue.