A critical point in mammalian development is when the early embryo implants into its mother's uterus. This event has historically been difficult to study due to the fact that it occurs within the maternal tissue and therefore is hidden from view. In this review, we discuss how the mouse embryo is prepared for implantation and the molecular mechanisms involved in directing and coordinating this ...

BACKGROUND The adverse effects of maternal diabetes on oocyte maturation and embryo development have been reported. METHODS In this study, we used time-lapse live cell imaging confocal microscopy to investigate the dynamic changes of ER and the effects of diabetes on the ER's structural dynamics during oocyte maturation, fertilization and early embryo development. RESULTS We report that the...

The Drosophila embryo proceeds through thirteen mitotic divisions as a syncytium. Its nuclei distribute in the embryo's interior during the first six divisions, dividing synchronously with a cycle time of less than ten minutes. After seven divisions (nuclear cycle 8), the syncytial blastoderm forms as the nuclei approach the embryo surface and slow their cycle time; subsequent divisions proceed...

An early set of blastomere specifications occurs during cleavage in the sea urchin embryo, the result of both conditional and autonomous processes, as proposed in the model for this embryo set forth in 1989. Recent experimental results have greatly illuminated the mechanisms of specification in some early embryonic territories, though others remain obscure. We review the progressive process of ...

The amphibian embryo provides a powerful model system to study morphogen gradients because of the ease with which it is possible to manipulate the early embryo. In particular, it is possible to introduce exogenous sources of morphogen, to follow the progression of the signal, to monitor the cellular response to induction, and to up- or down-regulate molecules that are involved in all aspects of...

Context: Gestational diabetes is defined as carbohydrate intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. Diabetes during pregnancy increases the incidences of congenital anomalies, in a mother and her embryo. Oxidative stress has been implicated to be responsible in diabetic embryopathy. Objective: In this study, we used nanoceria as an antioxidant for amelioration of diabetic embry...

One of the great legacies that Sven Horstadius left to developmental biology was the notion that specific founder cells in the early embryo generate the major tissue territories of the embryo. These territories comprise groups of cells that engage in two important events : (i) they can engage in inductive interactions, i.e. one tissue can signal another, resulting in changes in differentiation,...

Background: The aim of our study was to determine the metabolic profile: glucose, triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and cholesterol (CHT) in women undergoing ART (Assisted reproductive technology) cycles and estimate its effect on In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) outcomes Materials and Methods: Forty three women undergoing IVF treatment were included in the study. Patients were all...