A comparative analysis of the chorioallantoic membrane as an experimental model to study angiogenesis and vascular development in the chick and quail embryos

Abstract

The avian embryo is a model in which experimental embryology and cellular and molecular biology techniques can converge to address fundamental questions of developmental biology. Chick and quail have been powerful partners in the investigation of avian development. Cells from these two species can develop harmoniously in heterospecific combinations, yet each remains histologically distinct, facilitating the fate mapping of transplanted tissues. In this article, we compare the use of the chicken and quail chorioallantoic membrane assay for the study of angiogenic and anti-angiogenic molecules, and of the angiogenic capability of tumor cell lines and tumor biopsy specimens.