Background: In somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) method of cloning, transferred nucleus should be dedifferentiated from differentiated state to embryonic state. Molecular analysis showed that the reprogramming in the transferred nucleus was incomplete and cloned embryos have epigenetic abnormalities such as high DNA methylations levels. Since methylation in pre-implantation embryos has a cri...

Understanding human pre-implantation development has important implications for assisted reproductive technology (ART) and for human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based therapies. Owing to limited resources, the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing this early stage of human development are poorly understood. Nonetheless, recent advances in non-invasive imaging techniques and molecular and g...

In a phenotypic screen in mice using a gene trap approach in embryonic stem cells, we have identified a recessive loss-of-function mutation in the mgcRacGAP gene. Maternal protein is present in the oocyte, and mgcRacGAP gene transcription starts at the four-cell stage and persists throughout mouse pre-implantation development. Total mgcRacGAP deficiency results in pre-implantation lethality. Su...

In eukaryotic cells, pre-mRNAs undergo several transformation steps to generate mature mRNAs. Recent studies have demonstrated that a diet containing a genetically modified (GM) soybean can induce modifications of nuclear constituents involved in RNA processing in some tissues of young, adult and old mice. On this basis, we have investigated the ultrastructural and immunocytochemical features o...

As numerical and structural defects in chromosomes are an inevitable consequence of IVF, Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and screening (PGD/PGS) methods are used for detecting abnormalities in embryos before implantation to the uterus to increase the successful rate of IVF. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and screening approaches can be achieved by different techniques such as NGS, CGH an...

clinical studies have shown that in pathological conditions such as endometriosis and reproductive tract infection (male and female) there is an activation status of macrophages that produce large quantities of nitric oxide (no) in addition to other effector molecules. large amounts of no may have embryotoxic roles and produce infertility. this study was designed to evaluate the effect of diffe...

We have examined the murine genes encoding transcription factors E2F1, -3, -5 and -6 in gametes and early embryos. All genes are expressed as maternal transcripts and all are efficiently transcribed after the blastocyst stage. Between those two stages, each E2F mRNA is transcribed with a distinctive and unique pattern. E2F proteins are also differentially expressed and compartmentalized in pre-...

A pre-implantation genetic diagnosis allows the identification of any genetic abnormalities in an embryo created in vitro; therefore, by exercising this practice, women avoided having to resort to therapeutic abortion, because making such a diagnosis allows you to implant only "healthy" embryos, with diseased embryos being discarded as a result. In Italy there is no legal regulatory body for pr...