Studies on dispersed unincubated chick blastoderm cells. II. Formation of contacts and cell sorting in aggregates of unincubated chick blastoderm and heart cells.

The configuration of blastoderm-heart cell aggregates after cell sorting depended largely on the proportion of each cell type initially present in the culture. In heterotypic aggregates, blastoderm cells were always found to partially or completely surround heart cells with both cell types retaining their characteristic morphology. Specialized junctions (e.g. desmosomes) developed only between cells of the same type. These observations suggest that blastoderm cells are unable to recognize and form stable contacts with heart cells.