Mice deficient for endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3(-/-)) may represent a good model for studying embryo loss and intrauterine growth retardation caused by vascular deficiencies. We determined the effects of embryo genotype (homozygous vs. heterozygous descendants with paternal or maternal source of the non-functional NOS3 allele) and maternal environment (NOS3(-/-) vs. wild-type NOS3(+/...

Disruption of the signaling pathways mediated by the receptor tyrosine kinase Tek/Tie2 has shown that this receptor plays a pivotal role in vascularization of the developing embryo. In this report, we have utilized the tetracycline-responsive binary transgenic system to overcome the early lethal cardiovascular defects associated with the tekDeltasp null allele in order to investigate the role o...

The Hem/Kette/Nap1 protein is involved in many biological processes. We have recently reported that Hem is required for the normal migration of neurons in the Drosophila embryo. In this paper, we report that Hem regulates the asymmetric division of neural precursor cells. We find that a well-studied Hem/Kette mutant allele produces at least two main, but possibly more, phenotypic classes of mut...

For the embryo to successfully complete development it must be capable of executing its developmental program within a microenvironment largely established by the mother. Mortality results either because of intrinsic defects within the embryo, an inadequate maternal environment, asynchrony between embryo and mother, or failure of the mother to respond appropriately to embryonic signals. To some...

The effects of papain protease and of vitamin A on explanted limb bone rudiments from 7- and 13-day chick embryos and fetal mice have been studied and compared. The incubation of cartilaginous rudiments from 7-day chick embryos in a solution containing papain and cysteine resulted in complete loss of the metachromasia of the cartilage matrix within 1 hour; explants treated in this fashion recov...

The functional diversity of the arterial and venous endothelia is regulated through a complex system of signalling pathways and downstream transcription factors. Here we report that the transcription factor Sox17, which is known as a regulator of endoderm and hemopoietic differentiation, is selectively expressed in arteries, and not in veins, in the mouse embryo and in mouse postnatal retina an...

The one-cell Caenorhabditis elegans embryo is polarized to partition fate determinants between the cell lineages generated during its first division. Using fluorescence loss in photobleaching, we find that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of the C. elegans embryo is physically continuous throughout the cell, but its membrane is compartmentalized shortly before nuclear envelope breakdown into an a...

CTCF is a highly conserved, multifunctional zinc finger protein involved in critical aspects of gene regulation including transcription regulation, chromatin insulation, genomic imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation, and higher order chromatin organization. Such multifunctional properties of CTCF suggest an essential role in development. Indeed, a previous report on maternal depletion of CTCF s...

To avoid the problems associated with twinning in dairy cattle, one of the embryos may be eliminated. This study compares the effect on pregnancy maintenance of two embryo reduction techniques, manual rupture (MR) and transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration (TUGA) of allanto-amniotic fluid, in Holstein-Friesian cows with multiple pregnancies. In the first experiment, 61 lactating cows bearing...