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Related Concept Videos

Gastrulation01:56

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Gastrulation establishes the three primary tissues of an embryo: the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. This developmental process relies on a series of intricate cellular movements, which in humans transforms a flat, “bilaminar disc” composed of two cell sheets into a three-tiered structure. In the resulting embryo, the endoderm serves as the bottom layer, and stacked directly above it is the intermediate mesoderm, and then the uppermost ectoderm. Respectively, these tissue strata...
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After a large-single-celled zygote is produced via fertilization, the process of cleavage occurs while zygotes travel through the uterine tube. Cleavage is a mitotic cell division that does not result in growth. With each round of successive cell division, daughter cells get increasingly smaller.
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Zygotic Development And Stem Cell Formation01:10

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The development of all multicellular organisms starts with the fusion of haploid cells called sperm and egg to form a diploid zygote. A zygote is a totipotent cell that can develop into a complete organism. The zygote undergoes cell division or cleavage to form an 8-cell mass. Until this stage, the cells are spherical, loosely attached, and remain totipotent. Totipotent cells are capable of developing both the embryonic and the extraembryonic tissues. However, as they continue to divide, they...
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During early development, the embryo forms two types of connective tissues— the mesenchyme and mucoid connective tissue.
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The development of the vascular system in a fetus is a complex and intricate process that begins as early as 15 to 16 days post-conception. This process starts outside the embryo, specifically in the mesoderm of the yolk sac, chorion, and connecting stalk. Approximately two days later, the formation of blood vessels occurs within the embryo itself.
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Protocol for Human Blastoids Modeling Blastocyst Development and Implantation
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Intercellular communication in the early human embryo.

B Dale1, R Gualtieri, R Talevi

  • 1Stazione Zoologica, University of Naples, Italy.

Molecular Reproduction and Development
|May 1, 1991
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Intercellular communication in early human embryos is limited until the blastocyst stage. Gap junctions facilitate communication between trophectoderm and inner cell mass cells, crucial for early human development.

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Embryology

Background:

  • Intercellular communication is vital for embryonic development.
  • Understanding early human embryo development requires studying cell-to-cell connections.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate intercellular communicative devices in the early human embryo.
  • To determine the role of gap junctions and other junctions in early human embryonic differentiation.

Main Methods:

  • Dye-coupling techniques using Lucifer yellow.
  • Electron microscopy (EM).

Main Results:

  • Dye did not spread between cells from the 4-cell to the morula stage.
  • Dye spread was observed in the blastocyst stage, indicating gap junction communication.
  • Tight junctions and desmosome-like structures were present from the 6-cell stage.

Conclusions:

  • Gap junctions are not significant for information transfer in early human embryos before the blastocyst stage.
  • Communication via gap junctions begins at the blastocyst stage between trophectoderm and inner cell mass.
  • Intercellular junctions play a role in primary human embryo differentiation.