Cultivation of tissue from the matrix of the stratum medium of the equine and bovine hoof walls

Abstract

SUMMARY Explants from the matrix of the stratum medium of the wall of the equine and bovine hoof each were cultured on a microporous membrane, using a standard culture medium. After incubation at 37 C, the outgrowth was a mixture of keratinocytes and fibroblasts, with predominance of the latter. After incubation at 34 C, the keratinocytes dominated, covering the lateral surfaces of the explant as well as the basal surface. Lateral outgrowth of keratinocytes was observed at the borderline of the original epidermis and at the borderline of the explant’s contact with the membrane. Epithelial outgrowth from the former consisted of rounded aggregates protruding into the medium, whereas outgrowth from the latter formed a pluristratified carpet occupying a considerable part of the membrane. In the outer layers, keratinocytes covering the cut surfaces of the dermis of the explant had a differentiation pattern of the kind that characterizes the keratinocytes of the hoof; differentiation was not observed in the lateral outgrowth.