The inorganic anatomy of the mammalian preimplantation embryo and the requirement of zinc during the first mitotic divisions.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Zinc is the most abundant transition metal in the mammalian oocyte, and dynamic fluxes in intracellular concentration are essential for regulating both meiotic progression and fertilization. Whether the defined pathways of zinc utilization in female meiosis directly translate to mitotic cells, including the mammalian preimplantation embryo, has not been studied previously.

Results

We determined that zinc is the most abundant transition metal in the preimplantation embryo, with levels an order of magnitude higher than those of iron or copper. Using a zinc-specific fluorescent probe, we demonstrated that labile zinc is distributed in vesicle-like structures in the cortex of cells at all stages of preimplantation embryo development. To test the importance of zinc dur

SUBMITTER: Kong BY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4617753 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature