Spatial alignment of the mouse blastocyst axis across the first cleavage plane is caused by mechanical constraint rather than developmental bias among blastomeres

Molecular Reproduction and Development
Vernadeth B Alarcón, Yusuke Marikawa

Abstract

The embryonic-abembryonic (Em-Ab) axis of the mouse blastocyst has been found in several studies to align orthogonal to the first cleavage plane, raising the possibility that a developmental prepattern already exists at the two-cell stage. However, it is also possible that such alignment is not due to any developmental disparity between the two-cell stage blastomeres, but rather is caused by an extrinsic mechanical constraint that is conferred by an irregular shape of the zona pellucida (ZP). Here, we conducted a series of experiments to distinguish between these possibilities. We showed that the shape of the ZP at the two-cell stage varied among embryos, ranging from near spherical to ellipsoidal, and that the ZP shape did not change until the blastocyst stage. In those embryos with an ellipsoidal ZP, the Em-Ab axis tended to lie orthogonal to the first cleavage plane, while in those embryos with a near spherical ZP, there was no such relationship. The clonal boundary between the descendants of the two-cell stage blastomeres tended to lie orthogonal to the Em-Ab axis when the rotation of the embryo within the ZP was experimentally prevented, while the control embryos did not exhibit such tendency. These results support the pos...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 20, 2010·Development, Growth & Differentiation·Toshihiko Fujimori
May 17, 2011·PLoS Computational Biology·Pawel KrupinskiCarsten Peterson
Jul 20, 2011·The Journal of Chemical Physics·Christopher OlsonKonstantin Pokhodnya
Feb 28, 2008·Cells, Tissues, Organs·Jens Erik Dietrich, Takashi Hiiragi
May 30, 2009·Molecular Reproduction and Development·Yusuke Marikawa, Vernadeth B Alarcón
Apr 28, 2012·Biotechnology Journal·Sebastian Wennekamp, Takashi Hiiragi
Jun 5, 2012·Developmental Biology·Zichuan LiuNathalie Beaujean
May 15, 2012·Cell Cycle·Periklis Pantazis, Tobias Bollenbach
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Aug 16, 2013·Biology of Reproduction·Arlene May A LaenoVernadeth B Alarcon
Feb 12, 2009·Reproductive Sciences·Toshihiko FujimoriYo-ichi Nabeshima
Oct 4, 2017·Reproduction : the Official Journal of the Society for the Study of Fertility·L P Sepulveda-RinconW E Maalouf
Dec 24, 2018·Journal of Biophotonics·Emma L MooreIrina V Larina
Aug 15, 2013·Development·Alfonso Martinez AriasChristian Schröter

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