Ion channels are proteins expressed in the plasma membrane of electrogenic cells. In the zygote and blastomeres of the developing embryo, electrical modifications result from ion currents that flow through these channels. This phenomenon implies that ion current activity exerts a specific developmental function, and plays a crucial role in signal transduction and the control of embryogenesis, f...

We have isolated a new murine homeobox gene, Rpx (for Rathke's pouch homeobox), that is dynamically expressed in the prospective cephalic region of the embryo during gastrulation. Early expression is seen in the anterior midline endoderm and prechordal plate precursor. Expression is subsequently activated in the overlying ectoderm of the cephalic neural plate, suggesting that inductive contact ...

Recent observations suggest that the bovine uterus starts to react to the early embryo immediately after its arrival from the oviduct. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of the early developing embryo on the immune-related gene profile in bovine uterine epithelial cells (BUECs) in vitro, and to further examine the impact of conditioned media (CM), either from embryo-BUEC co-cultu...

Objective(s): To evaluated the effects of melatonin on early embryo competence and the expression rate of the primary implantation receptors (ErbB1 and ErbB4). Materials and Methods: Two-cell mouse embryos were cultured in 3 groups: simple media, melatonin-treated (10-9 M melatonin) and Luzindole-treated (10-9 M luzindole). Then, the rate of ErbB1 and ErbB4 gene and protein expression, the leve...

The distribution of maternal immunoglobulins in the mouse uterus and embryo in the days after implantation has been studied on sections incubated with sheep Fab anti-mouse immunoglobulins labeled with peroxidase. At the time of implantation the blastocyst is already surrounded by immunoglobulins that are also present in the blastocoel and early endoderm; uterine glands contain large amounts of ...

In the early embryo of many species, comparatively small spindles are positioned near the cell center for subsequent cytokinesis. In most insects, however, rapid nuclear divisions occur in the absence of cytokinesis, and nuclei distribute rapidly throughout the large syncytial embryo. Even distribution and anchoring of nuclei at the embryo cortex are crucial for cellularization of the blastoder...

The early preimplantation mouse embryo is a unique system where it is possible to explore the foundations of totipotency and differentiation. Following fertilization, a single cell, the zygote, will give rise to all tissues of the organism. The first signs of differentiation in the embryo are evident at the blastocyst stage with the formation of the trophectoderm, a differentiated tissue that e...

BACKGROUND A scoring system has been developed to determine preimplantation embryo quality, and used to select embryos for transfer into the uterus of patients. METHODS AND RESULTS The system was used to study early embryo development and to test whether these scores alone can accurately predict IVF outcome. Following zygote and embryo scores through early development, the data showed that a ...

background: hla-g is a major histocompatibility complex (mhc), class ib molecule that is selectively expressed at the fetal–maternal interface. it is thought to play a role in protecting the fetus from the maternal immune response. interestingly, the preimplantation embryo development (ped) gene product qa-2 is also a mouse mhc class ib protein that affects cleavage and division of preimplantat...

BACKGROUND In the long-germ insect Drosophila, a single extraembryonic membrane, the amnioserosa, covers the embryo at the dorsal side. In ancestral short-germ insects, an inner membrane, the amnion, covers the embryo ventrally, and an outer membrane, the serosa, completely surrounds the embryo. An early differentiation step partitions the uniform blastoderm into the anterior-dorsal serosa and ...