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Updated: Jun 1, 2026
Loss- and Gain-of-function Approach to Investigate Early Cell Fate Determinants in Preimplantation Mouse Embryos
Published on: June 6, 2016
Primate preimplantation embryo is a target for relaxin during early pregnancy
Catherine A Vandevoort1, Namdori R Mtango, Keith E Latham
1California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. cavandevoort@ucdavis.edu
Objective:
To determine whether preimplantation embryos are targets for relaxin secreted from the corpus luteum of the menstrual cycle.
Design:
Rhesus monkey oocytes obtained from females undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation were inseminated, and the resulting embryos were cultured in medium with or without recombinant human relaxin (20 ng/mL) for 8 days.
Setting:
Research laboratory.
Animal(S):
Rhesus monkey.
Intervention(S):
Controlled ovarian stimulation to obtain oocytes for in vitro-produced embryos that were cultured with or without human recombinant relaxin.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Rate of blastocyst development, percentage of blastocysts, and inner cell mass/trophectoderm cell ratio were measured on day 8 of culture. The presence of relaxin receptor (RXFP1) messenger RNA in eight-cell embryos was observed by array hybridization.
Result(S):
RXFP1 receptor expression was localized to the inner cell mass of blastocysts, as shown by immunohistochemistry. The percentage of embryos that developed to blastocyst and the inner cell mass/trophectoderm cell ratio was unchanged with relaxin supplementation; however, the relaxin-treated embryos developed into blastocysts significantly sooner than untreated embryos.
Conclusion(S):
These results are the first evidence that the preimplantation primate embryo is a target for relaxin and that the addition of relaxin to in vitro culture medium enhances rhesus monkey embryo development.
