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Published Online April 19, 2007
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1138591

Research Articles

Submitted on December 8, 2006
Accepted on March 21, 2007

Blastocyst Axis Is Specified Independently of Early Cell Lineage But Aligns with the ZP Shape

Yoko Kurotaki 1, Kohei Hatta 2, Kazuki Nakao 3, Yo-ichi Nabeshima 4, Toshihiko Fujimori 4*

1 Department of Pathology and Tumor Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; CREST, JST, 4-1-8, Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan; Present Address; International University of Health and Welfare Graduate School. Kitakanemaru, Otawara, Tochigi 324-8501, Japan.
2 Vertebrate Body Plan Group
3 Laboratory for Animal Resources and Genetic Engineering, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, 2-2-3 Minatojima-minami-cho, Chuo-ku Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan.
4 Department of Pathology and Tumor Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; CREST, JST, 4-1-8, Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Toshihiko Fujimori , E-mail: fujimori{at}lmls.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp (Contact K.H.(khatta@cdb.riken.jp) for CAG-KikGR-1 mouse)

The mechanisms controlling the establishment of the embryonic-abembryonic (E-Ab) axis of the mammalian blastocyst are controversial. Here, we use in vitro time lapse imaging and in vivo lineage labeling to provide evidence that the E-Ab axis of the mouse blastocyst is generated independently of early cell lineage. Rather, both the boundary between 2-cell blastomeres and the E-Ab axis of the blastocyst align relative to the ellipsoidal shape of the zona pellucida (ZP), an extraembryonic structure. Lack of correlation between cell lineage and the E-Ab axis can be explained by the rotation of the embryo within the ZP.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Cell identity in the preimplantation mammalian embryo: an epigenetic perspective from the mouse.
M. E. Torres-Padilla (2008)
Hum. Reprod. 23, 1246-1252
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Computer simulation of emerging asymmetry in the mouse blastocyst.
H. Honda, N. Motosugi, T. Nagai, M. Tanemura, and T. Hiiragi (2008)
Development 135, 1407-1414
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Formation of the embryonic-abembryonic axis of the mouse blastocyst: relationships between orientation of early cleavage divisions and pattern of symmetric/asymmetric divisions.
M. Bischoff, D.-E. Parfitt, and M. Zernicka-Goetz (2008)
Development 135, 953-962
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Capturing Epigenetic Dynamics During Pre-implantation Development Using Live Cell Imaging.
K. Yamagata (2008)
J. Biochem. 143, 279-286
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Maternally derived FILIA-MATER complex localizes asymmetrically in cleavage-stage mouse embryos.
M. Ohsugi, P. Zheng, B. Baibakov, L. Li, and J. Dean (2008)
Development 135, 259-269
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Stochastic patterning in the mouse pre-implantation embryo.
J.-E. Dietrich and T. Hiiragi (2007)
Development 134, 4219-4231
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)