There were total 24 embryos transplanted in 14 embryo transfer cycles (1.47 ± 0.75 embryos per transfer). There were 12 biochemical pregnancies obtained (85.71% per transfer cycle), 14 embryos implanted (58.33% per transferred embryo), and there were 11 clinical pregnancies with births of 3 healthy boys and 8 healthy girls and 3 ongoing clinical pregnancies (78.57% per transfer cycle). And, no ...

Recently, assisted reproductive techniques have been used to prevent further miscarriages in women with recurrent miscarriage. One approach uses either screening or diagnosis of embryonic chromosomes prior to embryo replacement [preimplantation genetic screening (PGS)/preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)]. The second approach involves surrogacy. However, PGS/PGD assumes that the embryo is ch...

In pigs, successful embryo implantation is an important guarantee for producing litter size, and early embryonic loss occurring on day 12-30 of gestation critically affects the potential litter size. The implantation process is regulated by the expression of numerous genes, so comprehensive analysis of the endometrium is necessary. In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) technology is used to a...

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) catalyses the carboxylation of acetyl-CoA, forming malonyl-CoA, which is used in the plastid for fatty acid synthesis and in the cytosol in various biosynthetic pathways including fatty acid elongation. In Arabidopsis thaliana, ACC1 and ACC2, two genes located in a tandem repeat within a 25-kbp genomic region near the centromere of chromosome 1, encode two multif...

We have isolated two dominant mutants from screening approximately 50,000 RIKEN activation-tagging lines that have short inflorescence internodes. The activation T-DNAs were inserted near a putative basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene and expression of this gene was increased in the mutant lines. Overexpression of this bHLH gene produced the original mutant phenotype, indicating it was responsib...

Whether deposited maternal products are important during early seed development in flowering plants remains controversial. Here, we show that RNA interference-mediated downregulation of transcription is deleterious to endosperm development but does not block zygotic divisions. Furthermore, we show that RNA POLYMERASE II is less active in the embryo than in the endosperm. This dimorphic pattern ...

Mammalian oocyte asymmetric division relies on the eccentric positioning of the spindle, resulting in the polar body formation. Small signaling G protein Rac1 is a member of GTPases, which regulates a diverse array of cellular events, including the control of cell growth, cytoskeletal reorganization, and the activation of protein kinases. However, effects of Rac1 on the porcine oocyte maturatio...

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP), and MMP-TIMP interactions may contribute to the highly programmed process of embryo implantation. The loss of the delicate MMP-TIMP balance may lead to abnormal implantation. The role of TIMP-4 in mouse implantation has not been reported. This study examined mRNA and protein expression levels of TIMP-4 in the blast...

Embryos are conventionally selected for transfer based on the evaluation of the cleavage speed and extent of blastomere fragmentation. Here we examined whether the predictive value of these criteria, as indicators of the chance of embryo implantation, can be further potentiated by adding previously described criteria reflecting the regularity of pronuclear development. In a group of embryos sel...