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Wellcome/CRC Institute and Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QR, UK
* Permanent address: Department of Experimental Embryology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrzebiec, Poland
Permanent address: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
Author for correspondence (e-mail: mzg{at}mole.bio.cam.ac.uk)
Accepted July 11, 2001
Two independent studies have recently suggested similar models in which the embryonic and abembryonic parts of the mouse blastocyst become separated already by the first cleavage division. However, no lineage tracing studies carried out so far on early embryos provide the support for such a hypothesis. Thus, to re-examine the fate of blastomeres of the two-cell mouse embryo, we have undertaken lineage tracing studies using a non-perturbing method. We show that two-cell stage blastomeres have a strong tendency to develop into cells that comprise either the embryonic or the abembryonic parts of the blastocyst. Moreover, the two-cell stage blastomere that is first to divide will preferentially contribute its progeny to the embryonic part. Nevertheless, we find that the blastocyst embryonic-abembryonic axis is not perfectly orthogonal to the first cleavage plane, but often shows some angular displacement from it. Consequently, there is a boundary zone adjacent to the interior margin of the blastocoel that is populated by cells derived from both earlier and later dividing blastomeres. The majority of cells that inhabit this boundary region are, however, derived from the later dividing two-cell stage blastomere that contributes predominantly to the abembryonic part of the blastocyst. Thus, at the two-cell stage it is already possible to predict which cell will contribute a greater proportion of its progeny to the abembryonic part of the blastocyst (region including the blastocyst cavity) and which to the embryonic part (region containing the inner cell mass) that will give rise to the embryo proper.
Key words: Mouse embryo, Polarity, Blastocyst, Axis, Embryonic, Abembryonic, Body plan
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