Author:
Papaioannou Virginia E.,Behringer Richard R.
Abstract
Preimplantation development covers a period of ∼4.5 d from fertilization to implantation in the uterus. If a homozygous mutant phenotype causes the death of embryos during this period, simple culture methods are available that support preimplantation development to allow a thorough morphological assessment. Embryos are recovered from the oviducts or uterus and examined for gross morphology, cell number, and progression through cleavage stages. Blastocysts can also be cultured over the implantation period and undergo a process analogous to implantation in vitro. Different categories of phenotypes such as failure of compaction, abnormal blastocyst formation, or failure to hatch from the zona pellucida and failure to attach and outgrow in vitro are discussed in relation to what each phenotype might portend. Further experimental procedures such as isolation and assessment of blastocyst inner cell mass and analysis of induced implantation delay in vivo may also be appropriate. Additional assessment of preimplantation embryos can involve histology and localization of mRNA or proteins either in sections or whole embryos.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Subject
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Reference31 articles.
1. The DDK inbred strain as a model for the study of interactions between parental genomes and egg cytoplasm in mouse preimplantation development
2. Behringer RR , Gertsenstein M , Nagy KV , Nagy A . 2014. Manipulating the mouse embryo: a laboratory manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY.
3. Switching mechanisms of cell death in mdm2- and mdm4-null mice by deletion of p53 downstream targets;Cancer Res,2003
4. Requirement of FGF-4 for Postimplantation Mouse Development