Embryo implantation is a critical step in mammalian reproduction and includes apposition of the blastocyst, attachment to the uterine epithelium and decidualization of the uterine stroma. However, the key mechanism underlying embryo implantation remains to be elucidated. In recent years, high-throughput transcriptomic and proteomic approaches make it possible for studying the expression levels ...

In the past decade, assisted reproductive technologies (ART) such as oocyte transfer, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and nuclear transfer (cloning) have become effective enough for clinical use. ART such as oocyte transfer and ICSI allow production of foals from mares that cannot provide an embryo by standard embryo-transfer procedures. For the equine practitioner, application of ART ...

Cell identity is specified in the early mammalian embryo by the generation of precursors for two cell lineages: the pluripotent inner cell mass and differentiating trophectoderm. Here we identify Angiomotin as a key regulator of this process. We show that the loss of Angiomotin, together with Angiomotin-like 2, leads to differentiation of inner cell mass cells and compromised peri-implantation ...

Prior to determining the molecular basis for the transient increase in expression of eIF-1A during the 2-cell stage of the pre-implantation mouse embryo, we determined the sequence of full-length cDNA and defined properties of the genomic organization of the mouse eIF-1A gene. Northern blot analysis distinguishes three transcripts in mouse liver of 2.8, 2.2 and 1.9 kb in size. The three transcr...

A pre-implantation genetic diagnosis allows the identification of any genetic abnormalities in an embryo created in vitro; therefore, by exercising this practice, women avoided having to resort to therapeutic abortion, because making such a diagnosis allows you to implant only "healthy" embryos, with diseased embryos being discarded as a result. In Italy there is no legal regulatory body for pr...

Busulfan is an alkylating agent affects ovarian follicles growth by oxidative stress induction. Satureja khuzestanica has antioxidant effects. The aim of this study was to examine whether S. khuzestanica essential oil (SKEO) exhibits protective effects on busulfan-induced ovarian failure. Eighty-four adult female mice were divided into six groups including dimethyl sulfoxide (control), SKEO 225...

I N the course of an investigation on the uptake of labelled ions by the rabbit embryo and its environment (Lutwak-Mann, Boursnell, & Bennett, 1960), experiments were done on pre-implantation blastocysts obtained from rabbits which had been treated parenterally with certain purine analogues. Histological examination of such blastocysts by the method of Moog & Lutwak-Mann (1958) showed that, as ...

Although much is known about the embryo during implantation, the architecture of the uterine environment in which the early embryo develops is not well understood. We employed confocal imaging in combination with 3D analysis to identify and quantify dynamic changes to the luminal structure of murine uterus in preparation for implantation. When applied to mouse mutants with known implantation de...