Roles of ER α during mouse trophectoderm lineage differentiation: revealed by antagonist and agonist of ER α.

During mouse early embryogenesis, blastomeres increase in number by the morula stage. Among them, the outer cells are polarized and differentiated into trophectoderm ( TE), while the inner cells remain unpolarized and give rise to inner cell mass ( ICM). TE provides an important liquid environment for ICM development. In spite of extensive research, the molecular mechanisms underlying TE formation are still obscure. In order to investigate the roles of estrogen receptor α ( ER α) in this course, mouse 8-cell embryos were collected and cultured in media containing ER α specific antagonist MPP and/or agonist PPT. The results indicated that MPP treatment inhibits blastocyst formation in a dose-dependent manner, while PPT, at proper concentration, promotes the cavitation ratio of mouse embryos. Immunofluorescence staining results showed that MPP significantly decreased the nuclear expression of CDX2 in morula, but no significant changes of OCT4 were observed. Moreover, after MPP treatment, the expression levels of the genes related to TE specification, Tead4, Gata3 and Cdx2, were significantly reduced. Overall, these results indicated that ER α might affect mouse embryo cavitation by regulating TE lineage differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Development, Growth & Differentiation is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)