spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif ARCHIVE ANNOUNCEMENT! spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online 16 January 2008
doi: 10.1242/dev.015339

Development 135, 717-727 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Material
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
dev.015339v1
135/4/717    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Xie, H.
Right arrow Articles by Wang, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Xie, H.
Right arrow Articles by Wang, H.

Inactivation of nuclear Wnt-β-catenin signaling limits blastocyst competency for implantation

Huirong Xie1, Susanne Tranguch2, Xiangxu Jia1, Hao Zhang1, Sanjoy K. Das1,3, Sudhansu K. Dey1,2,4, Calvin J. Kuo5 and Haibin Wang1,*

1 Departments of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
2 Departments of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
3 Departments of Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
4 Departments of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
5 Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Center for Clinical Sciences Research 3100, 269 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: h.wang{at}vanderbilt.edu)

Accepted 5 December 2007

The activation of the blastocyst, a process by which it gains competency to attach with the receptive uterus, is a prerequisite for successful implantation. However, the molecular basis of blastocyst activation remains largely unexplored. Combining molecular, pharmacological and physiological approaches, we show here that silencing of Wnt-β-catenin signaling in mice does not adversely affect the development of preimplantation embryos to blastocysts and uterine preparation for receptivity, but, remarkably, blocks blastocyst competency to implantation. Using the physiologically relevant delayed implantation model and trophoblast stem cells in culture, we further demonstrate that a coordinated activation of canonical Wnt-β-catenin signaling with attenuation of the non-canonical Wnt-RhoA signaling pathway ensures blastocyst competency to implantation. These findings constitute novel evidence that Wnt signaling is at least one pathway that determines blastocyst competency for implantation.

Key words: Blastocyst activation, Implantation, Wnt, β-catenin, Mouse




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 ReproductionHome page
C. O'Neill
Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling in mammalian preimplantation embryo development
Reproduction, August 1, 2008; 136(2): 147 - 156.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2008