The significance of uterus in mammalian embryonic diapause and advancements in In vitro reproduction strategies.

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19269
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 44:Biology at cellular to organismal levels, and related fields
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima
• Principal Investigator: TAKAOKA Katsuyoshi 徳島大学, 先端酵素学研究所, 准教授 (90551044)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 発生休止 / 着床 / 不妊治療 / 着床遅延 / 生殖補助医療技術

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Embryonic diapause, a crucial process in mammalian embryogenesis, entails the initiation of a cell cycle and cell differentiation pause in the preimplantation embryo induced by alterations in the intrauterine environment orchestrated by the maternal system. Although developmental quiescence acts as a regulatory brake on embryonic self-organization, its underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unexplored. This study aims to unravel the intricate mechanism by which the uterus induces developmental arrest. Transcriptome and pathway analysis were conducted on both uterine and embryonic tissues across distinct stages of developmental diapause, leading to the identification of putative factors governing utero-embryo interactions and embryonic diapause regulation. Subsequently, a comprehensive large-scale knockout screening analysis was performed to narrow down the list of candidate factors.

Free Research Field

発生生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の遂行より明らかになる「発生休止現象の分子メカニズム」の学術的知見は、ヒトの初期流産の発症機構の解明につながるなど、そのインパクトは多くの学術分野にわたる。加えて、発生休止誘導技術の確立により、機能的なin vitro着床胚作製が可能になれば、胎生動物胚の完全in vitro培養や人工子宮のような叶うことのない夢と思われてきた技術への道筋が見えてくる。このように本研究は、学術面・技術面の両面で多大な意義のあるイノベーションを生み出す可能性を秘めた研究である。