Hesx1 has been shown to be essential for normal pituitary development. The homeobox gene Six3 is expressed in the developing pituitary gland during mouse development but its function in this tissue has been precluded by the fact that in the Six3-deficient embryos the pituitary gland is not induced. To gain insights into the function of Six3 during pituitary development we have generated Six3+/- ;Hesx1Cre/+ double heterozygous mice. Strikingly, these mice show marked dwarfism, which is first detectable around weaning, and die by the 5th-6th week of age. Thyroid and gonad development is also impaired in these animals. Analysis of Six3+/- ;Hesx1Cre/+ compound embryos indicates that hypopituitarism is the likely cause of these defects since pituitary development is severely impaired in these mutants. Similar to the Hesx1-deficient embryos, Rathke's pouch is initially expanded in Six3+/- ;Hesx1Cre/+ compound embryos due to an increase in cell proliferation. Subsequently, the anterior pituitary gland appears bifurcated, dysmorphic and occasionally ectopically misplaced in the nasopharyngeal cavity, but cell differentiation is unaffected. Our research has revealed a role for Six3 in normal pituitary development, which has likely been conserved during evolution as SIX3 is also expressed in the pituitary gland of the human embryo.

A comparison was made of the development of human zygotes in either a one-step (Global® medium) or two-step culture system (Quinn's Advantage®). A total of 257 normally fertilized 2PN zygotes from 28 patients were used in the study. The study was broken down into two parts: the first concerned the development of embryos from Days 1 to 3 in Global® medium and Quinn's Advantage® cleavage medium; the second consisted of a comparison of the development of embryos from Day 3 to 5/6 in Global® medium and Quinn's Advantage® blastocyst medium. There were no significant differences between the two culture media with respect to embryo quality throughout the preimplantation phase of human embryo development as determined by the extent and variability of the cell counts, fragmentation, and nucleation. A difference was noted in the blastomere symmetry of Day 2 embryos in the two media, but was no longer apparent on examination of Day 3 embryos. No differences were noted in the rates of blastocyst development, inner cell mass (ICM), and trophectoderm (TE) scores in the two culture media. Finally, no significant differences were noted with either the proportion of blastocysts chosen for transfer or cryopreservation (vitrification). The findings support the view that two-step sequential media protocols are sufficient but not necessary to support the complete in vitro development of human preimplantation embryos.

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