Molecular mechanisms of differentiation and elongation of preimplantation embryos in domestic species

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26292162
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Integrative animal science
• Research Institution: Iwate University
• Principal Investigator: Sawai Ken 岩手大学, 農学部, 教授 (90390864)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 木崎 景一郎 岩手大学, 農学部, 教授 (40337994)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 胚 / 組織分化 / 遺伝子発現 / 家畜

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The functions of OCT-4, CDX2, TEAD4 and FGF4 in the differentiation of the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) have been described in detail. To elucidate their functions during early development in bovine and porcine embryos, we performed OCT-4, CDX2, TEAD4 and FGF4 downregulation using RNA interference. In CDX2-downregulated bovine embryos, blastocoel formation was delayed. In bovine embryos, TEAD4 down regulation did not affect embryonic development until the blastocyst stage. The rate of blastocyst development of FGF4-downregulated bovine embryos was lower compared with control embryos. In porcine embryos, blastomeres derived from a blastomere injected with OCT-4-siRNA were degenerated in almost half the blastocyst. Blastocyst formation of porcine embryos were inhibited by TEAD4-downregulation. Our results suggest that these factors are essential for early development and gene expression involved in differentiation of ICM and TE lineages in bovine and porcine embryos.

Free Research Field

家畜繁殖学・発生工学