PROMOTI ON OF MOUSE PREI MPLANTATI ON EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT BY VASCULAR ENDOTHELI AL GROWTH FACTOR

Abs t r a c t Vas cul ar endot hel i al gr owth f act or(VEGF)i s a r egul at or of phys i ol ogi cal angi ogenes i s dur i ng e mbr yogenes i s s kel et al gr owth and r epr oduct i ve f unct i ons .V E GF a nd VEGF r ecept or s(VEGFRs )have been i dent i f i ed i n s ever al repr oduct i ve t i s s ues i ncl udi ng t he ovi duct s and ut er us .V E GF/VEGFR s i gnal i ng s ys t ems have been s hown t o pl ay cr uci al r ol es dur i ng e mbr yo d evel opment af t er i mpl ant at i on .T h e p r es ent s t udy e xami ned expr es s i on o f VEGFR-1VEGFR-2 a nd VEGFR-3 p r ot ei ns i n mo us e 2 -and 4 -cel l embr yos mor ul ae and bl as t ocys t s dur i ng devel opment us i ng i mmunocyt ochemi s t r y .I n bl as t ocys t s VEGFR-1 a nd V E GFR-3 p r ot ei ns we r e e xcl us i vel y l ocal i zed i n t r o‑ phect oder mal cel l s but not i nner cel l mas s cel l s .H o wever VEGFR-2 pr ot ei n was not obs er ved i n al l embr yoni c s t ages exami ned .A s VEGF e xpr es s i on has been demons t r at ‑ ed i n mous e ovi duct and ut er us t hes e r es ul t s i ndi cat e par acr i ne r ol es of VEGF i n t he devel opment of pr ei mpl ant at i on embr yos . In vitro anal ys es showed VEGF pr omot es t he devel opment of mous e p r ei mpl ant at i on e mbr yos f r om ear l y b l as t ocys t s t o h at ched bl as t ocys t s i n a dos e-dependent manner .T h e e f f ect of VEGF o n bl as t ocys t devel op‑ ment was suppr es s ed by t r eat ment wi t h a neut r al i zi ng VEGF ant i body wher eas ant i body al one wa s i nef f ect i ve .O u r f i ndi ngs s ugges t pot ent i al par acr i ne r ol es o f VEGF i n pr omot i ng t he devel opment of ear l y e mbr yos .