Fig. 1. Induction of Cx43 expression in uterine stromal cells during implantation. (A) Mice were subjected to delayed implantation as described in the Materials and methods. Uteri were collected 1 hour (b) and 24 hours (c,d) after E treatment and subjected to immunohistochemistry using anti-Cx43 antibody. (d) Higher magnification view of the 24-hour sample. The 0-hour sample (a) represents pregnant uterus obtained from a mouse treated with P alone for three days. Results are from two independent experiments. (B) Uteri were collected in the morning of day 1 (a), day 4 (b), day 5 (c,d) and day 7 (e,f) of pregnancy. Higher magnifications of Cx43 expression in stromal cells surrounding the implanted embryo on day 5 and day 7 are shown in d and f, respectively. Results are from two independent experiments.