Action of Triethanomelamine (TEM) on Early and Later Stages of Mouse Embryos
Several years ago triethanomelamine (2, 4, 6-tri(ethyleneimino)-l, 3, 5-triazine, or TEM) was introduced into clinical chemotherapy for its tumour-inhibiting property. It was found, in addition, that TEM is a strong mutagenic factor. In a previous paper (Jurand, 1958) it was shown that TEM severely retards the development of the chick in the early embryonic stages. This effect is directly proportional to the dose of TEM used. It was suggested that the sensitivity of individual embryonic tissues varies in the early stages of development, somites being the most sensitive embryonic organs. There was observed also, especially with larger doses of TEM, a considerable widening of the embryonic coelom and decomposition of the mid-trunk somites into mesenchyme-like loose tissue. There was, moreover, a considerable increase in cell size, and both the nuclei and the nucleoli in the nervous tissue were enlarged.