CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF SALIVARY-GLAND MORPHOGENESIS

The submandibular gland of the mouse and rat serves as an important mo del to study epitheliomesenchymal interactions, surface it can be stud ied both in vivo and in vitro. Previous work has established that the extracellular martrix, and especially the basal lamina, play vital rol es in the development of this gland. More recent studies have indicate d that integrins and several oncogene-related products, including comp onents of the epidermal growth factor system, also play important role s in this gland's development.