Skip Navigation


Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on February 11, 2005
Molecular Human Reproduction 2005 11(3):183-188; doi:10.1093/molehr/gah136
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
11/3/183    most recent
gah136v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Honda, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Tanaka, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Honda, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Tanaka, T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Molecular Human Reproduction Vol. 11 No. 3 © European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology 2005; all rights reserved

Expression of Smac/DIABLO in mouse preimplantation embryos and its correlation to apoptosis and fragmentation

Yoko Honda, Hideo Tanikawa, Jun Fukuda1, Kazuhiro Kawamura, Naoki Sato, Toshiharu Sato, Yasushi Shimizu, Hideya Kodama and Toshinobu Tanaka

Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, Akita University School of Medicine, 1-1-1, Hondo, Akita 010-8543, Japan

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Akita University School of Medicine, 1-1-1, Hondo, Akita 010-8543, Japan. Email: fukudaj{at}obgyn.med.akita-u.ac.jp

Regulation of early embryonal development during fertilization and implantation is crucial for mammalian reproduction. Several studies have described cell death during preimplantation embryogenesis in a range of mammalian species, both in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, apoptosis may be involved in early embryonic arrest and the characteristic cytoplasmic fragments are the equivalents of apoptotic bodies, the end-product of apoptosis. Although apoptosis is expected to associate with fragmentation in early preimplantation embryos, the mechanism through which this fragmentation occurs has not been elucidated. Recently, second mitochondria-derived activator of caspase/Direct IAP Binding Protein with Low pI (Smac/DIABLO) was identified as a mitochondrial protein that is released into the cytosol during apoptosis. Once released, the Smac/DIABLO blocks the anti-apoptotic activity of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs). We hypothesized that the Smac/DIABLO may be involved in the fragmentation of mouse preimplantation embryos. Therefore, we investigated the expression of Smac/DIABLO mRNA and protein and its localization in mouse oocytes and preimplantation embryos. Smac/DIABLO mRNA was detected by RT–PCR in the oocytes and the preimplantation embryos. Immunohistochemistry studies showed that the Smac/DIABLO protein localized in mitochondria and was released into the cytosol in both fragmented embryos and embryos in which apoptosis was induced by staurosporine. These observations indicate that the Smac/DIABLO is involved in the fragmentation and apoptosis of preimplantation embryos.

Key words: apoptosis/preimplantation embryo/Smac/DIABLO


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.