BACKGROUND PreImplantation Factor (PIF), a novel peptide secreted by viable embryos is essential for pregnancy: PIF modulates local immunity, promotes decidual pro-adhesion molecules and enhances trophoblast invasion. To determine the role of PIF in post-fertilization embryo development, we measured the peptide's concentration in the culture medium and tested endogenous PIF's potential trophic ...

After more than a century of research, the mouse remains the goldstandard model system, for it recapitulates human development and disease and is quickly and highly tractable to genetic manipulations. Fundamental to the power and success of using amousemodel is the ability to stage embryonic mouse development accurately. Past staging systems were limited by the technologies of the day, such tha...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Water channels, also named aquaporins (AQPs), play crucial roles in cellular water homeostasis. METHODS RT-PCR indicated the mRNA expression of AQPs 1-5, 7, 9, and 11-12, but not AQPs 0, 6, 8, and 10 in the 2∼8-cell stage human embryos. AQP3 and AQP7 were further analyzed for their mRNA expression and protein expression in the oocyte, zygote, 2-cell embryo, 4-cell embryo, 8-ce...

Mouse embryo imaging is conventionally carried out on ex vivo embryos excised from the amniotic sac, omitting vital structures and abnormalities external to the body. Here, we present an in amnio MR imaging methodology in which the mouse embryo is retained in the amniotic sac and demonstrate how important embryonic structures can be visualised in 3D with high spatial resolution (100 µm/px). To ...

Oocyte maturation and embryo development are controlled by intra-ovarian factors such as steroid hormones. Progesterone (P4) exists in the follicular fluid that contributes to normal mammalian ovarian function and has several critical functions during embryo development and implantation, including endometrial receptivity, embryonic survival during gestation and transformation of the endometrial...

BALB/c mouse embryo cells maintained in tissue culture on a schedule of rapid transfer at high cell density develop into tumorigenic lines that have lost contact inhibition of cell division. After several months in culture, certain of these lines begin to release mouse leukemia virus. This virus has properties indistinguishable from those of virus found in adult BALB/c mice. The evidence presen...

Embryo manipulation is a fundamental task in assisted reproductive technology (ART). Nevertheless, conventional pick-place techniques often require proper alignment to avoid causing damage the embryo and further, tools have limited capability orient being handled. Objective: This paper presents novel non-invasive technique that can easily manipulate mouse embryos on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Pet...

Mouse embryo culture has been established and applied in the study of the causal mechanisms of abnormal development. Mouse embryo culture can be used as an experimental system to examine the influence of teratogen on early development, together with investigations using developmental engineering such as chimera, transgenic mice and nuclear transfer. We combined mouse embryo culture with embryo ...

objective: phthalates, which are commonly used to render plastics into soft and flexible materials, have also been determined as developmental and reproductive toxicants in human and animals. the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of mono-(2- ethylhexyl) phthalate (mehp) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (dehp) oral administrations on maturation of mouse oocytes, apoptosis and gene ...