Leptin acts as a modulator of diverse reproductive functions, and recent studies have implicated involvement of leptin in the early embryo development in mammal. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of leptin and its receptor (OB-R) in mouse oocyte and preimplantation embryo, and to examine whether leptin influenced the early embryo development. Leptin mRNA was detected in bl...

The totipotent zygote gives rise to cells with differing identities during mouse preimplantation development. Many studies have focused on analyzing the spatio-temporal dependencies during these lineage decision processes and much has been learnt by tracing transgenic marker gene expression up to the blastocyst stage and by analyzing the effects of genetic manipulations (knockout/ overexpressio...

The transition from meiosis to mitosis, classically defined by fertilization, is a fundamental process in development. However, its mechanism remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we report a surprising gradual transition from meiosis to mitosis over the first eight divisions of the mouse embryo. The first cleavages still largely share the mechanism of spindle formation with meiosis, durin...