Expression of epithin in mouse preimplantation development: its functional role in compaction

The preimplantation development of mammalian embryo after fertilization encompasses a series of events including cleavage, compaction, and differentiation into blastocyst. These events are likely to be associated with substantial changes in embryonic gene expression. In the present study, we explored the expression patterns and function of epithin, a mouse type II transmembrane serine protease, during preimplantation embryo development. RT-PCR analysis showed that epithin mRNAs were detectable during the cleavage stages from a 1-cell zygote to the blastocyst. Immunocytochemical studies revealed that epithin protein was expressed at blastomere contacts of the compacted 8-cell and later embryonic stages. Epithin colocalized with E-cadherin at the membrane contacts of the compacted morula-stage embryo as revealed by double-staining immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy, respectively. Post-transcriptional epithin gene silencing by RNA interference (RNAi) resulted in the blockade of 8-cell in vitro-stage embryo compaction and subsequent embryonic deaths after several rounds of cell division. These results strongly suggest that epithin plays an important role in the compaction processes that elicit the signal for the differentiation into trophectoderm and inner cell mass.