A novel
in vitro method for maintaining the physiological activities of late gestation rat fetuses was developed. The uterus with fetuses was isolated from a pregnant rat and was perfused with a physiological solution through a cannula inserted into uterine artery. With this transplacental-perfusion method, it became possible to maintain the activities of the heart and the central nervous system of late gestation rat fetuses (E14-E21) for more than 24 hours
in vitro. The present method may be useful for a variety of studies on mammalian fetal development, enabling direct observation and manipulation of late gestation fetuses.
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