The maternal environment: influence on early mammalian development

胚胎发育的第一阶段对胎儿的生存能力和生长是最关键的。在过去的40年里，在确定早期哺乳动物胚胎的培养条件方面取得了稳定的进展。尽管取得了这一进展，但目前的培养系统仍然不是最理想的，胚胎移植后培养的胚胎妊娠率降低，并且容易出现代谢和生长障碍。解决这些问题的方法是增加我们对外部环境如何影响早期发育的理解。本提案中的研究是一项长期研究的延续，旨在了解母体和文化环境在调节早期哺乳动物发育中的作用。总体目标是研究CCN蛋白在早期胚胎发育中的作用。CCN蛋白是新发现的在调节细胞增殖、细胞死亡和细胞间粘附中起重要作用的因子。它们被认为与称为整合素的细胞表面粘附分子相互作用。没有研究调查CCN蛋白在输卵管或着床前胚胎中的表达。我们的初步数据表明，它们存在于输卵管中，并在早期胚胎中表达，这支持了CCN/整合素介导的信号传导调节早期发育事件的可能性。正是由于这些原因，我们将重点研究输卵管和胚胎CCN蛋白在调节早期发育中的表达和功能。这项研究将揭示关于早期发育调控的新信息。了解环境介质对胚胎发育的影响以及揭示ccn在发育过程中的功能作用需要这些信息。

The first stages of embryonic development are the most critical for viability and growth of the fetus. Progress in defining culture conditions for early mammalian embryos has been steady over the past 40 years. Despite this progress current culture systems are still sub-optimal and cultured embryos have a reduced pregnancy rate following embryo transfer, and are prone to metabolic and growth disorders. The solution for these concerns is to increase our understanding of how the external environment influences early development. The research in this proposal is a continuation of a long-term study that is directed towards understanding the role of the maternal and culture environments in regulating early mammalian development. The overall objective is to investigate the roles of CCN proteins during early embryonic development. The CCN proteins are newly discovered factors that play important roles in regulating cell proliferation, cell death, and cell to cell adhesion. They are thought to interact with cell surface adhesion molecules called integrins. No studies have investigated the expression of CCN proteins within the oviduct or preimplantation embryo. Our preliminary data indicates their presence in the oviduct and expression by the early embryo which supports the likelihood of CCN/integrin mediated signaling in regulating the earliest developmental events. It is for these reasons that we will focus our studies on defining the expression and function of oviduct and embryonic CCN proteins in regulating early development. This research will uncover new information regarding the regulation of early development. This information is required to understand the effects of environmental mediators on embryonic development and to reveal the functional roles of the CCNs during development.