scholarly journals Multiscale analysis of single and double maternal-zygotic Myh9 and Myh10 mutants during mouse preimplantation development

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Frederik Schliffka ◽  
Anna-Francesca Tortorelli ◽  
Özge Özgüç ◽  
Ludmilla de Plater ◽  
Oliver Polzer ◽  
...  

During the first days of mammalian development, the embryo forms the blastocyst, the structure responsible for implanting the mammalian embryo. Consisting of an epithelium enveloping the pluripotent inner cell mass and a fluid-filled lumen, the blastocyst results from a series of cleavages divisions, morphogenetic movements and lineage specification. Recent studies identified the essential role of actomyosin contractility in driving the cytokinesis, morphogenesis and fate specification leading to the formation of the blastocyst. However, the preimplantation development of contractility mutants has not been characterized. Here, we generated single and double maternal-zygotic mutants of non-muscle myosin II heavy chains (NMHC) to characterize them with multiscale imaging. We find that Myh9 (NMHC II-A) is the major NMHC during preimplantation development as its maternal-zygotic loss causes failed cytokinesis, increased duration of the cell cycle, weaker embryo compaction and reduced differentiation, whereas Myh10 (NMHC II-B) maternal-zygotic loss is much less severe. Double maternal-zygotic mutants for Myh9 and Myh10 show a much stronger phenotype, failing most attempts of cytokinesis. We find that morphogenesis and fate specification are affected but nevertheless carry on in a timely fashion, regardless of the impact of the mutations on cell number. Strikingly, even when all cell divisions fail, the resulting single-celled embryo can initiate trophectoderm differentiation and lumen formation by accumulating fluid in increasingly large vacuoles. Therefore, contractility mutants reveal that fluid accumulation is a cell-autonomous process and that the preimplantation program carries on independently of successful cell division.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Frederik Schliffka ◽  
Anna-Francesca Tortorelli ◽  
Özge Özgüç ◽  
Ludmilla de Plater ◽  
Oliver Polzer ◽  
...  

AbstractDuring the first days of mammalian development, the embryo forms the blastocyst, the structure responsible for implanting the mammalian embryo. Consisting of an epithelium enveloping the pluripotent inner cell mass and a fluid-filled lumen, the blastocyst results from a series of cleavages divisions, morphogenetic movements and lineage specification. Recent studies identified the essential role of actomyosin contractility in driving the morphogenesis, fate specification and cytokinesis leading to the formation of the blastocyst. However, the preimplantation development of contractility mutants has not been characterized. Here, we generated single and double maternal-zygotic mutants of non-muscle myosin-II heavy chains (NMHC) to characterize them using multiscale imaging. We find that Myh9 (NMHC II-A) is the major NMHC during preimplantation development as its maternal-zygotic loss causes failed cytokinesis, increased duration of the cell cycle, weaker embryo compaction and reduced differentiation, whereas Myh10 (NMHC II-B) maternal-zygotic loss is much less severe. Double maternal-zygotic mutants for Myh9 and Myh10 show a much stronger phenotype, failing most attempts of cytokinesis. We find that morphogenesis and fate specification are affected but nevertheless carry on in a timely fashion, regardless of the impact of the mutations on cell number. Strikingly, even when all cell divisions fail, the resulting single-celled embryo can initiate trophectoderm differentiation and lumen formation by accumulating fluid in increasingly large vacuoles. Therefore, contractility mutants reveal that fluid accumulation is a cell-autonomous process and that the preimplantation program carries on independently of successful cell division.


Reproduction ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 157 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Cui ◽  
Chelsea Marcho ◽  
Yongsheng Wang ◽  
Rinat Degani ◽  
Morgane Golan ◽  
...  

Mediator is an evolutionarily conserved multi-subunit complex, bridging transcriptional activators and repressors to the general RNA polymerase II (Pol II) initiation machinery. Though the Mediator complex is crucial for the transcription of almost all Pol II promoters in eukaryotic organisms, the phenotypes of individual Mediator subunit mutants are each distinct. Here, we report for the first time, the essential role of subunit MED20 in early mammalian embryo development. Although Med20 mutant mouse embryos exhibit normal morphology at E3.5 blastocyst stage, they cannot be recovered at early post-gastrulation stages. Outgrowth assays show that mutant blastocysts cannot hatch from the zona pellucida, indicating impaired blastocyst function. Assessments of cell death and cell lineage specification reveal that apoptosis, inner cell mass, trophectoderm and primitive endoderm markers are normal in mutant blastocysts. However, the epiblast marker NANOG is ectopically expressed in the trophectoderm of Med20 mutants, indicative of defects in trophoblast specification. These results suggest that MED20 specifically, and the Mediator complex in general, are essential for the earliest steps of mammalian development and cell lineage specification.


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 725
Author(s):  
Dawid Winiarczyk ◽  
Anna Piliszek ◽  
Silvestre Sampino ◽  
Marek Lukaszewicz ◽  
Jacek Andrzej Modliński

Programmed cell death plays a key role in mammalian development because the morphological events of an organism’s formation are dependent on apoptosis. In the mouse development, the first apoptotic waves occur physiologically at the blastocyst stage. Cell number and the mean nucleus to cytoplasm (N/C) ratio increase exponentially throughout subsequent embryo cleavages, while cell volume concurrently decreases from the zygote to blastocyst stage. In this study we tested the hypothesis that reorganisation of the embryo structure by manipulating cell number, the N/C ratio and the cell volume of 2-cell embryos may result in the earlier and more frequent occurrence of apoptosis. The results indicate that doubling (‘Aggregates’ group) or halving (‘Embryos 1/2’ group) the initial cell number and modifying embryo volume, ploidy (‘Embryos 4n’ group) and the N/C ratio (‘Embryos 2/1’ group) reduce the probability of apoptosis in the resulting embryos. There was a higher probability of apoptosis in the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, but apoptotic cells were never observed at the morula stage in any of the experimental groups. Thus, manipulation of cell number, embryo volume, the N/C ratio and ploidy cause subtle changes in the occurrence of apoptosis, although these are mostly dependent on embryo stage and cell lineage (trophectoderm or inner cell mass), which have the greatest effect on the probability of apoptosis.


Diabetologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hironobu Sasaki ◽  
Yoshifumi Saisho ◽  
Jun Inaishi ◽  
Yuusuke Watanabe ◽  
Tami Tsuchiya ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims/hypothesis Type 2 diabetes is characterised by reduced beta cell mass (BCM). However, it remains uncertain whether the reduction in BCM in type 2 diabetes is due to a decrease in size or number of beta cells. Our aim was to examine the impact of beta cell size and number on islet morphology in humans with and without type 2 diabetes. Methods Pancreas samples were obtained from 64 Japanese adults with (n = 26) and without (n = 38) type 2 diabetes who underwent pancreatectomy. Using pancreatic tissues stained for insulin, we estimated beta cell size based on beta cell diameter. Beta cell number was estimated from the product of fractional beta cell area and pancreas volume divided by beta cell size. The associations of beta cell size and number with islet morphology and metabolic status were examined. Results Both beta cell size (548.7 ± 58.5 vs 606.7 ± 65.0 μm3, p < 0.01) and number (5.10 × 108 ± 2.35 × 108 vs 8.16 × 108 ± 4.27 × 108, p < 0.01) were decreased in participants with type 2 diabetes compared with those without diabetes, with the relative reduction in beta cell number (37%) being greater than for beta cell size (10%). Beta cell number but not size was positively correlated with BCM in participants with and without type 2 diabetes (r = 0.97 and r = 0.98, both p < 0.01) and negatively correlated with HbA1c (r = −0.45, p < 0.01). Conclusions/interpretation Both beta cell size and number were reduced in participants with type 2 diabetes, with the relative reduction in beta cell number being greater. Decrease in beta cell number appears to be a major contributor to reduced BCM in type 2 diabetes. Graphical abstract


Development ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 102 (4) ◽  
pp. 793-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.E. Papaioannou ◽  
K.M. Ebert

Total cell number as well as differential cell numbers representing the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm were determined by a differential staining technique for preimplantation pig embryos recovered between 5 and 8 days after the onset of oestrus. Total cell number increased rapidly over this time span and significant effects were found between embryos of the same chronological age from different females. Inner cells could be detected in some but not all embryos of 12–16 cells. The proportion of inner cells was low in morulae but increased during differentiation of ICM and trophectoderm in early blastocysts. The proportion of ICM cells then decreased as blastocysts expanded and hatched. Some embryos were cultured in vitro and others were transferred to the oviducts of immature mice as a surrogate in vivo environment and assessed for morphology and cell number after several days. Although total cell number did not reach in vivo levels, morphological development and cell number increase was sustained better in the immature mice than in vitro. The proportion of ICM cells in blastocysts formed in vitro was in the normal range.


Author(s):  
Xiaosu Miao ◽  
Wei Cui

Abstract Female infertility is a heterogeneous disorder with a variety of complex causes, including inflammation and oxidative stress, which are also closely associated with the pathogenesis of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). As a new treatment for PCOS, berberine (BER), a natural compound from Berberis, has been clinically applied recently. However, the mechanisms underlying the association between BER and embryogenesis are still largely unknown. In this study, effects of BER on preimplantation development was evaluated by using both normal and inflammatory culture conditions induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the mouse. Our data first suggest that BER itself (25 nM) does not affect embryo quality or future developmental potency, moreover, it can effectively alleviate LPS-induced embryonic damage by mitigating apoptosis via ROS−/caspase-3-dependent pathways and by suppressing pro-inflammatory cytokines via inhibition of NF-κB signaling pathway during preimplantation embryo development. In addition, skewed cell lineage specification in inner cell mass (ICM) and primitive endoderm (PE) caused by LPS can also be successfully rescued with BER. In summary, these findings for the first time demonstrate the non-toxicity of low doses of BER and its anti-apoptotic and anti-oxidative properties on embryonic cells during mammalian preimplantation development.


Zygote ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 309-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabindranath de la Fuente ◽  
W. Allan King

SummaryThe mammalian blastocyst comprises an inner cell mass (ICM) and a trophectoderm cell layer. In this study the allocation of blastomeres to either cell lineage was compared between murine, porcine and bovine blastocysts. Chemical permeation of trophectoderm cells by the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 in combination with DNA-specific fluorochromes resulted in the differential staining of trophectoderm and ICM. Confocal microscopy confirmed the exclusive permeation of trophectoderm and the internal localisation of intact ICM cells in bovine blastocysts. Overall, differential cell counts were obtained in approximately 85% of the embryos assessed. Mean (±SEM) total cell numbers were 72.2 ± 3.1 and 93.1±5 for in vivo derived murine (n = 41) and porcine (n = 21) expanded blastocysts, respectively. Corresponding ICM cell number counts revealed ICM/total cell number ratios of 0.27 and 0.21, respectively. Comparison of in vivo (n = 20) and in vitro derived bovine embryos on day 8 (n = 29) or day 9 (n = 29) revealed a total cell number of 195.25±9.9, 166.14±9.9 and 105±6.7 at the expanded blastocyst stage with corresponding ICM/total cell ratios of 0.27, 0.23 and 0.23, respectively. While total cell numbers differed significantly among the three groups of bovine embryos (p<0.05), the ICM/total cell ratio did not. These results indicate that a similar proportion of cells is allocated to the ICM among blastocysts of genetically divergent species.


Development ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Hardy ◽  
A.H. Handyside ◽  
R.M. Winston

The development of 181 surplus human embryos, including both normally and abnormally fertilized, was observed from day 2 to day 5, 6 or 7 in vitro. 63/149 (42%) normally fertilized embryos reached the blastocyst stage on day 5 or 6. Total, trophectoderm (TE) and inner cell mass (ICM) cell numbers were analyzed by differential labelling of the nuclei with polynucleotide-specific fluorochromes. The TE nuclei were labelled with one fluorochrome during immunosurgical lysis, before fixing the embryo and labelling both sets of nuclei with a second fluorochrome (Handyside and Hunter, 1984, 1986). Newly expanded normally fertilized blastocysts on day 5 had a total of 58.3 +/− 8.1 cells, which increased to 84.4 +/− 5.7 and 125.5 +/− 19 on days 6 and 7, respectively. The numbers of TE cells were similar on days 5 and 6 (37.9 +/− 6.0 and 40.3 +/− 5.0, respectively) and then doubled on day 7 (80.6 +/− 15.2). In contrast, ICM cell numbers doubled between days 5 and 6 (20.4 +/− 4.0 and 41.9 +/− 5.0, respectively) and remained virtually unchanged on day 7 (45.6 +/− 10.2). There was widespread cell death in both the TE and ICM as evidenced by fragmenting nuclei, which increased substantially by day 7. These results are compared with the numbers of cells in morphologically abnormal blastocysts and blastocysts derived from abnormally fertilized embryos. The nuclei of arrested embryos were also examined. The number of TE and ICM cells allocated in normally fertilized blastocysts appears to be similar to the numbers allocated in the mouse. Unlike the mouse, however, the proportion of ICM cells remains higher, despite cell death in both lineages.


Development ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 305-312
Author(s):  
M. Aghayan ◽  
L.V. Rao ◽  
R.M. Smith ◽  
L. Jarett ◽  
M.J. Charron ◽  
...  

Two general mechanisms mediate glucose transport, one is a sodium-coupled glucose transporter found in the apical border of intestinal and kidney epithelia, while the other is a sodium-independent transport system. Of the latter, several facilitated transporters have been identified, including GLUT1 (erythrocyte/brain), GLUT2 (liver) and GLUT4 (adipose/muscle) isoforms. In this study, we used Western-blot analysis and high resolution immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) to investigate the stage-related expression and cellular localization of GLUT1, 2 and 4. The Western blot results demonstrate that GLUT1 is detectable in the oocyte and throughout preimplantation development. GLUT2 isoforms were not detectable until the blastocyst stage, while the GLUT4 isoform was undetectable in the oocyte through blastocyst stages. The present findings confirm previous studies at the molecular level which demonstrated that mRNAs encoding the same GLUT isoforms are detectable at corresponding developmental stages. GLUT1 and GLUT2 display different cellular distributions at the blastocyst stage as shown by IEM studies. GLUT1 has a widespread distribution in both trophectoderm and inner cell mass cells, while GLUT2 is located on trophectoderm membranes facing the blastocyst cavity. This observation suggests a different functional significance for these isoforms during mouse preimplantation development.


Development ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 1333-1339 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Bhatnagar ◽  
V.E. Papaioannou ◽  
J.D. Biggers

The effects of macrophage colony stimulating factor on the development of the zygote to the blastocyst stage of an outbred strain of mouse have been studied in KSOM, an improved medium that supports a high rate of in vitro development. Macrophage colony stimulating factor accelerates the formation of the blastocyst cavity by day 4 (96 hours post-hCG). It also increases overall embryonic cell number through a differential increase in the number of trophoblast cells, with no significant effect on the number of inner cell mass cells. By day 5 of culture (120 hours post-hCG), colony stimulating factor-treated embryos have about 20 more trophoblast cells than control embryos, an increase of about 30 percent of the total number of cells in a control blastocyst. The maximum response of embryos was obtained at a concentration around 540 U ml-1 colony stimulating factor (identical to 918 Stanley units ml-1), and the cytokine can produce the same effects even if it is present in the medium for only part of the culture period. This in vitro stimulation of preimplantation development with macrophage colony stimulating factor is compatible with continued normal fetal development in vivo.


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