Vol.30 No.3 (2008 June): 339-341

Cell Fate Determination of Mouse Preimplantation Embryo

Ting-Ting Xie, Zi-Yu Wang*, Chun-Hua Meng, Feng Wang

(College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

Abstract The first cleavage is important for cell fate determination and polarity in embryogenesis of many kinds of animals. However, it has been thought to be an exception in mammals. For decades, many embryologists assume that blastomeres of an early mouse embryo are uniform and embryonic polarity does not appear until blastocyst. Recently, the cell fate determination of mouse preimplantation embryo arouse controversies among embryologists. The debate is mainly on when the embryonic polarity appears and whether any morphogenetic determinants in mammalian preimplantation embryo exist. Factors influencing cell fate determination of mouse preimplantation embryo, such as sperm entry position (SEP), the second polar body, embryo shape, the second cleavage pattern and cellular polarity are summarized in this review.

Key words embryo; polarity; cell fate; mouse

Received: November 14, 2007 Accepted: January 22, 2008
This work was supported by the NAU Youth Sci-Tech Innovation Fund (No.KJ06013)
*Corresponding author. Tel: 86-25-84395381, Fax: 86-25-84395314, E-mail: wangziyu@njau.edu.cn