According to estimates, about 30 and 40 % of implanted conceptions result in spontaneous abortions throughout the first trimester, majority which happen at an extremely early stage. Most massive losses occur relatively gestational period, but after heart activity embryo has appeared, abortion rate steadily falls 2-5%.

We demonstrate a fast, direct wavefront-sensing method for dynamic in vivo adaptive optical two-photon microscopy. By using a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor and open-loop control, the system provides high-speed wavefront measurement and correction. To measure the wavefront in the middle of a Drosophila embryo at early stages, autofluorescence from endogenous fluorophores in the yolk were used ...

In order to determine the nature of the human embryo, we need to know its biological, anthropological, philosophical, and even its legal reality. In our opinion, however, the anthropological, philosophical and legal reality of the embryo — the basis of its human rights — must be built upon its biological reality (see also HERE). Consequently, one of the most widely debated topics in the field o...

early in the development of many animals, before transcription begins, any change in the pattern of protein synthesis is attributed to a change in the translational activity or stability of mrna in the egg and early embryo. as a result, translational control is critical for a variety of developmental decisions, including oocyte maturation and initiation of preimplantation development. in this s...

Early-cleaving embryos are known to have better capacity to reach the blastocyst stage and produce better quality embryos compared to late-cleaving embryos. To investigate the significance of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress on early embryo cleavage kinetics and development, porcine embryos produced in vitro were separated into early- and late-cleaving groups and then cultured in the absence o...

Luman/CREB3 is a transcription factor that is a member of the cAMP-response-element-binding protein family of basic region-leucine zipper transcription factors. This protein interacts with host cell factor 1, which also associates with the herpes simplex virus protein VP16 to induce the transcription of herpes simplex virus. Currently, the physiological function of Luman/CREB3 in reproductive p...

Mammalian oocyte meiotic maturation is the precondition of early embryo development. Lots of microtubules (MT)-associated proteins participate in oocyte maturation process. Cytoskeleton-associated protein 5 (CKAP5) is a member of the XMAP215 family that regulates microtubule dynamics during mitosis. However, its role in meiosis has not been fully studied. Here, we investigated the function of C...

The translation of maternal glp-1 mRNA is regulated both temporally and spatially in the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo (T. C. Evans, S. L. Crittenden, V. Kodoyianni, and J. Kimble, Cell 77, 183-194, 1994). To investigate the control of embryonic glp-1 expression, we have examined the distribution of GLP-1 protein in selected maternal effect mutants that affect pattern or fate in the early...

It has been speculated that free amino acids digested from proteins in bird eggs are transported to the circulation for the nourishment of the embryo. In the present study, we found that early chicken embryo protein in the serum might be utilized efficiently as a nutrient. Proteins injected into the blood of embryonic day 3 (E3) embryos were partially degraded and rapidly cleared. The rapid cle...

As a tumor suppressor homologue during mitosis, Chk2 is involved in replication checkpoints, DNA repair, and cell cycle arrest, although its functions during mouse oocyte meiosis and early embryo development remain uncertain. We investigated the functions of Chk2 during mouse oocyte maturation and early embryo development. Chk2 exhibited a dynamic localization pattern; Chk2 expression was restr...