Blastocyst axis is specified independently of early cell lineage but aligns with the ZP shape.
The mechanisms controlling the establishment of the embryonic-abembryonic (E-Ab) axis of the mammalian blastocyst are controversial. We used in vitro time-lapse imaging and in vivo lineage labeling to provide evidence that the E-Ab axis of the mouse blastocyst is generated independently of early cell lineage. Rather, both the boundary between two-cell blastomeres and the E-Ab axis of the blastocyst align relative to the ellipsoidal shape of the zona pellucida (ZP), an extraembryonic structure. Lack of correlation between cell lineage and the E-Ab axis can be explained by the rotation of the embryo within the ZP.
Kurotaki
Yoko
Y
Department of Pathology and Tumor Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Hatta
Kohei
K
Nakao
Kazuki
K
Nabeshima
Yo-Ichi
Y
Fujimori
Toshihiko
T
D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D053624:Blastocyst Inner Cell Mass; D001757:Blastomeres / Q000502:physiology*; D019521:Body Patterning; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002465:Cell Movement; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000502:physiology; D047108:Embryonic Development; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009040:Motion Pictures; D012399:Rotation; D015044:Zona Pellucida / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*
C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins