PLoS ONE (Jan 2009)

Transcriptome profiling of human pre-implantation development.

  • Pu Zhang,
  • Marco Zucchelli,
  • Sara Bruce,
  • Fredwell Hambiliki,
  • Anneli Stavreus-Evers,
  • Lev Levkov,
  • Heli Skottman,
  • Erja Kerkelä,
  • Juha Kere,
  • Outi Hovatta

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007844
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 11
p. e7844

Abstract

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BACKGROUND: Preimplantation development is a crucial step in early human development. However, the molecular basis of human preimplantation development is not well known. METHODOLOGY: By applying microarray on 397 human oocytes and embryos at six developmental stages, we studied the transcription dynamics during human preimplantation development. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We found that the preimplantation development consisted of two main transitions: from metaphase-II oocyte to 4-cell embryo where mainly the maternal genes were expressed, and from 8-cell embryo to blastocyst with down-regulation of the maternal genes and up-regulation of embryonic genes. Human preimplantation development proved relatively autonomous. Genes predominantly expressed in oocytes and embryos are well conserved during evolution. SIGNIFICANCE: Our database and findings provide fundamental resources for understanding