The chicken chorioallantoic membrane model in biology, medicine and bioengineering

Abstract

The chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) is a simple, highly vascularized extraembryonic membrane, which performs multiple functions during embryonic development, including but not restricted to gas exchange. Over the last two decades, interest in the CAM as a robust experimental platform to study blood vessels has been shared by specialists working in bioengineering, development, morphology, biochemistry, transplant biology, cancer research and drug development. The tissue composition and accessibility of the CAM for experimental manipulation, makes it an attractive preclinical in vivo model for drug screening and / or for studies of vascular growth. In this article we provide a detailed review of the use of the CAM to study vascular biology and response of blood vessels to a variety of agonists. We also present distinct cultivation protocols discussing their advantages and limitations and provide a summarized update on the use of the CAM in vascular imaging, drug delivery, pharmacokinetics and toxicology.

Human small cell lung cancer cell line (NCI-H146) tumor behaviour on the chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane after the sodium valproate treatment

“…However, a leap from in vitro studies with cells to in vivo preclinical animal models usually leads to unsatisfactory results due to the high cost of the pre-clinical studies. Th us the CAM has been used as an excellent platform to test multiple DDS formulations as an intermediate step between in vitro analysis and in vivo preclinical evaluation in mammals [12]. Th e tumors aff ected with NaVP resulted in a highly decreased CAM thickness under the implantation site compared to the non-treated group as well as in the neighbouring sites away from the main tumor tissue.…”

Cardio-respiratory development in bird embryos: new insights from a venerable animal model

“…Indeed, as we identify similarities between all vertebrates from molecular to organismal levels, the use of the bird embryo continues to expand, including animal modeling for areas as diverse as nonclinical safety studies of pharmaceuticals and vaccines (Saw et al, 2008;Bjornstad et al, 2015) to toxicology (Kopf and Walker, 2009;Smith et al, 2012) to prototyping surgical and measurement apparatus (Filas et al, 2011;Ford and Mertz, 2013;Lee and Ha, 2013). Moreover, the structure of the bird embryo within its egg has allowed focus on specific organs, such as the chorioallantoic membrane (Branum et al, 2013;Nowak-Sliwinska et al, 2014;Yuan et al, 2014), or on large specific and circumscribed energy and nutrient pools, such as albumin and yolk (Williams, 1994;Dzialowski et al, 2009;Nangsuay et al, 2015). Finally, a compelling aspect of the bird embryo is its size, particularly when considering the embryos of the ratites (ostriches, emus, rheas), which allows surgical and other interventions not possible in many other common embryonic models (Burggren et al, 2000;Burggren et al, 2004;Dzialowski and Greyner, 2008;Khorrami et al, 2008;Shell et al, 2016), including in vitro cultivation Brand et al, 2014).…”

Assessing the effects of threonyl-tRNA synthetase on angiogenesis-related responses

“…The procedure investigates changes in blood vessel growth within the CAM of developing chicken embryos in response to various test conditions. The CAM is a highly vascular, extra-embryonic membrane that forms from the fusion of chorion and allantois on developmental day 3 and rapidly expands until developmental day 10 [10]. Blood vessels are highly visible within the clear membrane and can be easily monitored using a standard stereo microscope.…”