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Molecular Human Reproduction, Vol. 5, No. 9, 874-879, September 1999
© 1999 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Regulation of implantation

The potential role of stem cell factor and its receptor c-kit in the mouse blastocyst implantation

Masahiro Mitsunari1, Tasuku Harada, Masahiro Tanikawa, Tomio Iwabe, Fuminori Taniguchi and Naoki Terakawa

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tottori University School of Medicine, Yonago 683, Japan

Abstract

Embryo implantation is a complex process that requires the interaction of embryo and endometrium. Several growth factors and cytokines appear to be involved in this process. Stem cell factor (SCF) and its receptor c-kit regulate the proliferation and survival of germ cells and play an important role in follicular development. However, little information is available on the role of SCF and c-kit in the process of blastocyst implantation. In the present study, we examined the expression of SCF and c-kit mRNA in mouse embryos and in the stromal and epithelial cells of the uterine endometrium by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR). SCF mRNA was expressed in the spreading blastocysts and endometrial cells, with especially strong expression occurring in the stromal cells. Expression of c-kit mRNA was detected in the blastocysts and spreading blastocysts, as well as in the endometrial cells. By immunocytochemical studies, staining for c-kit protein was observed in the in-vitro spreading trophoblasts. We found that 50–100 ng/ml SCF significantly promoted the expansion of the surface area of the spreading blastocysts (P < 0.01). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that SCF derived from endometrial cells and the implanting embryo exerts paracrine and/or autocrine action on the process of implantation by stimulating trophoblast outgrowth through its receptor c-kit.

c-kit /embryo development /implantation /stem cell factor/trophoblast spreading

Notes

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed


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