Lipid droplets in mammalian eggs are utilized during embryonic diapause

Metabolic Shifts in Carbohydrate Metabolism during Embryonic Development of Non-Diapause Eggs of the Silkworm, Bombyx mori

Lipid droplets and lipotoxicity during autophagy

Lipid droplets (LDs) are neutral lipid storage organelles that provide a rapidly accessible source of fatty acids (FAs) for energy during periods of nutrient deprivation. Surprisingly, lipids released by the macroautophagic/autophagic breakdown of membranous organelles are packaged and stored in new LDs during periods of prolonged starvation. Why cells would store FAs during an energy crisis wa...

Embryonic diapause: development on hold.

Embryonic diapause, the temporary suspension of development of the embryo, is a fascinating reproductive strategy that has been frequently exploited across the animal kingdom. It is characterized by an arrest in development that occurs at the blastocyst stage in over 130 species of mammals. Its presumed function is to uncouple mating from parturition, to ensure that both occur at the most propi...

Embryonic diapause in humans: time to consider?

BACKGROUND When a competent blastocyst stage embryo finds itself in an unreceptive uterus, it delays development. In around one hundred species representing various orders, this delay is known to be reversible, but this phenomenon - termed embryonic diapause (ED) - is not considered a general characteristic of all mammals. PRESENTATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS Recently, however, we demonstrated that...

A new role for muscle segment homeobox genes in mammalian embryonic diapause

Mammalian embryonic diapause is a phenomenon defined by the temporary arrest in blastocyst growth and metabolic activity within the uterus which synchronously becomes quiescent to blastocyst activation and implantation. This reproductive strategy temporally uncouples conception from parturition until environmental or maternal conditions are favourable for the survival of the mother and newborn....