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Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on November 29, 2008
Molecular Human Reproduction 2008 14(12):691-701; doi:10.1093/molehr/gan063
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
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This article appears in the following Molecular Human Reproduction issue: Special Issue: Emerging Technologies for the Assessment of Gametes and Embryos - The OMICS [View the issue table of contents]

Genomic RNA profiling and the programme controlling preimplantation mammalian development

Christine E. Bell1,2, Michele D. Calder1,2 and Andrew J. Watson1,2,3

1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Physiology and Pharmacology, The University of Western Ontario, Children's Health Research Institute-Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada 2Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Children's Health Research Institute-Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada

3 Correspondence address. E-mail: awatson{at}uwo.ca

Preimplantation development shifts from a maternal to embryonic programme rapidly after fertilization. Although the majority of oogenetic products are lost during the maternal to embryonic transition (MET), several do survive this interval to contribute directly to supporting preimplantation development. Embryonic genome activation (EGA) is characterized by the transient expression of several genes that are necessary for MET, and while EGA represents the first major wave of gene expression, a second mid-preimplantation wave of transcription that supports development to the blastocyst stage has been discovered. The application of genomic approaches has greatly assisted in the discovery of stage specific gene expression patterns and the challenge now is to largely define gene function and regulation during preimplantation development. The basic mechanisms controlling compaction, lineage specification and blastocyst formation are defined. The requirement for embryo culture has revealed plasticity in the developmental programme that may exceed the adaptive capacity of the embryo and has fostered important research directions aimed at alleviating culture-induced changes in embryonic programming. New levels of regulation are emerging and greater insight into the roles played by RNA-binding proteins and miRNAs is required. All of this research is relevant due to the necessity to produce healthy preimplantation embryos for embryo transfer, to ensure that assisted reproductive technologies are applied in the most efficient and safest way possible.

Key words: gene expression/embryo culture/in vitro fertilization/oocyte/blastocyst

Submitted on September 5, 2008; resubmitted on October 24, 2008; accepted on October 27, 2008.


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