Molecular Human Reproduction, Vol. 7, No. 2, 155-161,
February 2001
© 2001 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Embryology |
Analysis of Oct-4 expression and ploidy in individual human blastomeres
Program for In Vitro Fertilization, Reproductive Surgery and Infertility, New York University Medical Center, 660 First Ave, 5th floor, New York, NY 10016, USA
Abstract
Oct-4, a decisive factor that maintains totipotency in murine embryonic and germ cells, is exclusively expressed in such cells. In mice, different levels of oct-4 expression in blastomeres predict development towards inner cell mass (ICM) (high oct-4) or trophectoderm (TE) (low oct-4). To address whether the mouse model also applies to human embryos, the cytoplasm of individual human blastomeres from normally and abnormally fertilized embryos was tested for Oct-4 expression by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR). The nuclei of the same blastomeres were subjected to fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) to determine ploidy. A significant difference in Oct-4 mRNA levels was revealed between blastomeres. The distribution of blastomeres with high Oct-4 levels varied according to the cleavage stage of the embryo: the more blastomeres, the lower the percentage with high Oct-4 levels. Aneuploid blastomeres did not exhibit lower Oct-4 mRNA levels than diploid ones. Thus, differential Oct-4 expression in individual human blastomeres appears to direct cells towards the ICM or TE lineages without regard to chromosomal status. Oct-4 might be used as a marker in preimplantation genetic diagnosis to identify embryogenic blastomeres.
human blastomeres/Oct-4/Oct-3/preimplantation genetic diagnosis/totipotency
Notes
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Gynecological, Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, 53127 Bonn, Germany. E-mail: ChrHansis{at}aol.com
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