Quantitative tomography of early mouse embryos: laser scanning microscopy and 3D reconstruction

The cell volume alteration participates in a wide variety of cellular functions that may interfere with intra-cellular homeostasis. The most adequate approach of estimation of the volume changes induced by osmotic misbalance, alteration in shape and size due to the action shape forming substances, etc., is the direct measurement of volumetric parameters of embryos. In the given research, the volume magnitude and kinetics of changes in volume and surface area of blastomere and polar bodies of early mouse embryos were determined using three-dimensional reconstruction of the optical section stack obtained with laser scanning microscope (LSM). The size and surface area were determined for isotonic and anisosmotic conditions. The physiological significance of the findings is discussed.