First cell fate decisions and spatial patterning in the early mouse embryo
- Creators
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Zernicka-Goetz, Magdalena
Abstract
A growing body of evidence indicates that although the early mouse embryo retains flexibility in responding to perturbations, its patterning is initiated at the earliest developmental stages. There are a few spatial cues that are able to influence the pattern of cleavage divisions: one of these lies in the vicinity of the previous meiotic division, the second is associated with the sperm entry and, related to this, the third is the cell shape. Furthermore, the first cleavage separates the zygote into two cells that tend to follow distinguishable fates: one contributes mainly to the embryonic part of the blastocyst, and the other to the abembryonic. The cumulative effect of the early asymmetries generated through cleavage might lead to asymmetric interactions between the first lineages of cells. This could influence development of patterning after implantation. These early polarity cues serve to bias patterning and not as definitive determinants.
Additional Information
© 2004 Elsevier. Available online 17 June 2004. I thank the members of my laboratory for their valuable contributions during the course of our studies. In particular I thank Karolina Piotrowska and Berenika Plusa for their courage to use their expertise in manipulating mouse embryo to address with me several challenging questions, Stephen Frankenberg for thoughtful discussions and Jonathan Pines for critical comments on the manuscript. I also thank the Wellcome Trust for their generous support of my work.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 94822
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20190419-105738244
- Wellcome Trust
- Created
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2019-04-23Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field