PMID- 15740696
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20071003
LR  - 20190917
IS  - 1448-5990 (Electronic)
IS  - 1031-3613 (Linking)
VI  - 16
IP  - 7
DP  - 2004
TI  - Genetics and imaging to assess oocyte and preimplantation embryo health.
PG  - 729-41
AB  - Two major criteria are currently used in human assisted reproductive technologies 
      (ART) to evaluate oocyte and preimplantation embryo health: (1) rate of 
      preimplantation embryonic development; and (2) overall morphology. A major gene 
      that regulates the rate of preimplantation development is the preimplantation 
      embryo development (Ped) gene, discovered in our laboratory. In mice, presence of 
      the Ped gene product, Qa-2 protein, results in a fast rate of preimplantation 
      embryonic development, compared with a slow rate of preimplantation embryonic 
      development for embryos that are lacking Qa-2 protein. Moreover, mice that 
      express Qa-2 protein have an overall reproductive advantage that extends beyond 
      the preimplantation period, including higher survival to birth, higher 
      birthweight, and higher survival to weaning. Data are presented that suggest that 
      Qa-2 increases the rate of development of early embryos by acting as a 
      cell-signalling molecule and that phosphatidylinositol-32 kinase is involved in 
      the cell-signalling pathway. The most likely human homologue of Qa-2 has recently 
      been identified as human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G. Data are presented which show 
      that HLA-G, like Qa-2, is located in lipid rafts, implying that HLA-G also acts 
      as a signalling molecule. In order to better evaluate the second criterion used 
      in ART (i.e. overall morphology), a unique and innovative imaging microscope has 
      been constructed, the Keck 3-D fusion microscope (Keck 3DFM). The Keck 3DFM 
      combines five different microscopic modes into a single platform, allowing 
      multi-modal imaging of the specimen. One of the modes, the quadrature tomographic 
      microscope (QTM), creates digital images of non-stained transparent cells by 
      measuring changes in the index of refraction. Quadrature tomographic microscope 
      images of oocytes and preimplantation mouse embryos are presented for the first 
      time. The digital information from the QTM images should allow the number of 
      cells in a preimplantation embryo to be counted non-invasively. The Keck 3DFM is 
      also being used to assess mitochondrial distribution in mouse oocytes and embryos 
      by using the k-means clustering algorithm. Both the number of cells in 
      preimplantation embryos and mitochondrial distribution are related to oocyte and 
      embryo health. New imaging data obtained from the Keck 3DFM, combined with 
      genetic and biochemical approaches, have the promise of being able to distinguish 
      healthy from unhealthy oocytes and embryos in a non-invasive manner. The goal is 
      to apply the information from our mouse model system to the clinic in order to 
      identify one and only one healthy embryo for transfer back to the mother 
      undergoing an ART procedure. This approach has the potential to increase the 
      success rate of ART and to decrease the high, and undesirable, multiple birth 
      rate presently associated with ART.
FAU - Warner, C M
AU  - Warner CM
AD  - Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. 
      c.warner@neu.edu
FAU - Newmark, J A
AU  - Newmark JA
FAU - Comiskey, M
AU  - Comiskey M
FAU - De Fazio, S R
AU  - De Fazio SR
FAU - O'Malley, D M
AU  - O'Malley DM
FAU - Rajadhyaksha, M
AU  - Rajadhyaksha M
FAU - Townsend, D J
AU  - Townsend DJ
FAU - McKnight, S
AU  - McKnight S
FAU - Roysam, B
AU  - Roysam B
FAU - Dwyer, P J
AU  - Dwyer PJ
FAU - DiMarzio, C A
AU  - DiMarzio CA
LA  - eng
GR  - R01 HD039215-04/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States
GR  - HD 39215/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States
GR  - HD 40309/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
PT  - Review
PL  - Australia
TA  - Reprod Fertil Dev
JT  - Reproduction, fertility, and development
JID - 8907465
RN  - 0 (HLA Antigens)
RN  - 0 (HLA-G Antigens)
RN  - 0 (Histocompatibility Antigens Class I)
RN  - 0 (Q surface antigens)
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - Blastocyst/*physiology
MH  - Embryonic Development
MH  - Fertilization in Vitro
MH  - HLA Antigens/genetics
MH  - HLA-G Antigens
MH  - Histocompatibility Antigens Class I/genetics
MH  - Humans
MH  - Mice
MH  - Microscopy/*methods
MH  - Mitochondria/physiology
MH  - *Models, Animal
MH  - Oocytes/*physiology
MH  - *Reproductive Techniques, Assisted
RF  - 72
EDAT- 2005/03/03 09:00
MHDA- 2007/10/04 09:00
CRDT- 2005/03/03 09:00
PHST- 2004/08/10 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2004/10/19 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2005/03/03 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/10/04 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2005/03/03 09:00 [entrez]
AID - RD04088 [pii]
AID - 10.1071/rd04088 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Reprod Fertil Dev. 2004;16(7):729-41. doi: 10.1071/rd04088.