First Cleavage of the Mouse Embryo Responds to Change in Egg Shape at Fertilization

Gray, Dionne; Płusa, Berenika; Piotrowska, Karolina; Na, Jie; Tom, Brian D. M.; Glover, David M.; Zernicka‐Goetz, Magdalena

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2004.02.031

Cited by 92 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…6). In addition to miRNAs, the fertilizing sperm also provide information influencing the first cleavage plane of the zygote (37), possibly by affecting the cytoskeletal dynamics (38). Further investigation is needed to identify the importance of sperm-derived factors, including other zygotic miRNAs, in the development of preimplantation embryos.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sperm-borne microRNA-34c is required for the first cleavage division in mouse

Liu

Pang

Chiu

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

386

335

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In mammals, the sperm deliver mRNA of unknown function into the oocytes during fertilization. The role of sperm microRNAs (miRNAs) in preimplantation development is unknown. miRNA profiling identified six miRNAs expressed in the sperm and the zygotes but not in the oocytes or preimplantation embryos. Sperm contained both the precursor and the mature form of one of these miRNAs, miR-34c. The absence of an increased level of miR-34c in zygotes derived from α-amanitin-treated oocytes and in parthenogenetic oocytes supported a sperm origin of zygotic miR-34c. Injection of miR-34c inhibitor into zygotes inhibited DNA synthesis and significantly suppressed first cleavage division. A 3′ UTR luciferase assay and Western blotting demonstrated that miR-34c regulates B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) expression in the zygotes. Coinjection of anti-Bcl-2 antibody in zygotes partially reversed but injection of Bcl-2 protein mimicked the effect of miR-34c inhibition. Oocyte activation is essential for the miR-34c action in zygotes, as demonstrated by a decrease in 3′ UTR luciferase reporter activity and Bcl-2 expression after injection of precursor miR-34c into parthenogenetic oocytes. Our findings provide evidence that sperm-borne miR-34c is important for the first cell division via modulation of Bcl-2 expression.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sperm-borne microRNA-34c is required for the first cleavage division in mouse

Liu

Pang

Chiu

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

386

335

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Division along the long axis was first formulated in the 19th century as a general rule of division by Hofmeister and Sachs, based on observations in plant cells, and studied experimentally by Hertwig and others in amphibian eggs (reviewed by Wilson, 1987). Only a few examples where cells divide according to their long axis during development were studied experimentally, such as some cells in the zebrafish embryo (Concha and Adams, 1998), the mouse zygote (Gray et al, 2004) and Xenopus eggs, which align their spindles into the long axis when mechanically deformed (Black and Vincent, 1988). Finally, normal rat kidney (NRK) in culture divide and bisect their long axis; as described for the blastula cells here, they also correct their spindle orientation to adjust to an experimentally imposed new long axis (O'Connell and Wang, 2000).…”

Section: Spindle Orientation: Default Versus Specialised Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A default mechanism of spindle orientation based on cell shape is sufficient to generate cell fate diversity in polarisedXenopusblastomeres

2006

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The process of oriented divisions of polarised cells is a recurrent mechanism of cell fate diversification in development. It is commonly assumed that a specialised mechanism of spindle alignment into the axis of polarity is a prerequisite for such systems to generate cell fate diversity. Oriented divisions also take place in the frog blastula, where orientation of the spindle into the apicobasal axis of polarised blastomeres generates inner and outer cells with different fates. Here, we show that, in this system, the spindle orients according to the shape of the cells, a mechanism often thought to be a default. We show that in the embryo, fatedifferentiative, perpendicular divisions correlate with a perpendicular long axis and a small apical surface, but the long axis rather then the size of the apical domain defines the division orientation. Mitotic spindles in rounded, yet polarised, isolated Xenopus blastula cells orient randomly, but align into an experimentally introduced long axis when cells are deformed early in the cell cycle. Unlike other systems of oriented divisions, the spindle aligns at prophase, rotation behaviour is rare and restricted to small angle adjustments. Disruption of astral microtubules leads to misalignment of the spindle. These results show that a mechanism of spindle orientation that depends on cell shape rather than cortical polarity can nevertheless generate cell fate diversity from a population of polarised cells.

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“…and "Do they matter?" The role of early development routines has been the subject of recent intense study (Gray et al, 2004, Motosugi et al, 2005, Plusa et al, 2005, Chazaud et al, 2006, Gardner, 2006, Hiiragi et al, 2006a, Hiiragi et al, 2006b, Motosugi et al, 2006, Plusa et al, 2006, Wakmundzka et al, 2006, Zernicka-Goetz, 2006, Dietrich and Hiiragi, 2007, Gardner, 2007, Kurotaki et al, 2007, Torres-Padilla et al, 2007, Bischoff et al, 2008. In this article we consider, theoretically, how these patterns might occur during the formation of the mouse blastocyst.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theoretical exploration of blastocyst morphogenesis

Shipley¹,

Bonsall²,

Allwright³

et al. 2009

Int. J. Dev. Biol.

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A theoretical exploration of cell distribution on the mouse blastocyst is conducted. A model ball of cells represents the morula which develops into a 32-cell model blastocyst that is enclosed in a spherical surface with a hemispherical cavity at one end. In the combinatorial analysis it is assumed that each cell of the 2-cell embryo forms 16 cells in the blastocyst and that these 16 cells touch each other. The results of the analysis identify a tendency for one set of 16 cells to contribute twice as many cells to the basal solid end of the blastocyst than the other set, a developmental bias that is also found by some observers of natural blastocysts. In the geometric analysis, half the volume of the inner group of cells of the morula and blastocyst and half the volume of the surrounding shell cells, the trophectoderm, is assumed to be formed from the progeny of each 2-cell stage cell. Making various assumptions about morphogenesis, it is found that there is a tendency for a curved frontier between the volumes from each 2-cell stage cell, the clonal volumes, to lie at an angle of 43.4 o to the equator of the blastocyst and for the bulk of the frontier circumference to lie on either side of the equator. These tendencies are also found by some observers of real blastocysts.

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First Cleavage of the Mouse Embryo Responds to Change in Egg Shape at Fertilization

Cited by 92 publications

References 26 publications

Sperm-borne microRNA-34c is required for the first cleavage division in mouse

Sperm-borne microRNA-34c is required for the first cleavage division in mouse

A default mechanism of spindle orientation based on cell shape is sufficient to generate cell fate diversity in polarisedXenopusblastomeres

Theoretical exploration of blastocyst morphogenesis

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