Blastocyst gene expression correlates with implantation potential

Trophectoderm morphology significantly affects the rates of ongoing pregnancy and miscarriage in frozen-thawed single-blastocyst transfer cycle in vitro fertilization

“…The reason why only trophectoderm morphology is statistically significantly related to the rates of ongoing pregnancy and miscarriage is unclear. Parks et al (19) examined trophectoderm biopsy samples and reported that the gene expression profile of each individual blastocyst directly correlated with its fate, including the success or failure of implantation and pregnancy loss. We consider those results to strongly support our findings.…”

Quality control and standardization of embryo morphology scoring and viability markers

“…Analysis of transcriptome profiles of human oocytes and embryos so far suggest that stage-specific gene expression patterns are related to embryo competence and can be used to identify candidate biomarkers (Dobson et al, 2004;Jones et al, 2008;Parks et al, 2011;Wells et al, 2005). Recent evidence even suggests that gene expression profiles of cumulus and granulosa cells are related to embryo competence (Adriaenssens et al, 2010;Cillo et al, 2007;Hamel et al, 2008;Van Montfoort et al, 2008;Zhang et al, 2005) and pregnancy outcome (Assou et al, 2008;Hamel et al, 2010) and may provide a non-invasive strategy to predict viability.…”

Distinct differences in global gene expression profiles in non-implanted blastocysts and blastocysts resulting in live birth

“…Embryo selection is currently based on morphology (2011), and although morphology is correlated fairly closely with the reproductive potential, the inability reliably to predict embryo viability is often considered a main reason for the relatively low pregnancy rate following assisted reproduction treatment. The existence of a gene expression profile that is distinguishably different in implanting embryos compared with non-implanting embryos has been demonstrated in animal studies (El-Sayed et al, 2006;Ghanem et al, 2011;Parks et al, 2011). In contrast, the relationship between gene expression and clinical outcome is largely uninvestigated in human embryos, due to the limited access to material from embryos used for treatment.…”

“…Consequently, we depend mostly on animal studies when addressing the question of whether pregnancy potential is related to gene expression. Although results obtained from animal models are not necessarily transferable to humans, increasing evidence points towards the existence of a gene expression profile that is distinguishably different in implanting embryos compared with non-implanting embryos (El-Sayed et al, 2006;Ghanem et al, 2011;Parks et al, 2011). The only human study conducted so far identified more than 700 transcripts that were uniquely expressed in human embryos that resulted in pregnancies, thus providing further support to the hypothesis that gene expression may be predictive of pregnancy outcome (Jones et al, 2008).…”