Measurement of metabolic turnover in single mouse embryos

The method for estimation of metabolic turnover by a single embryo at each stage of preimplantation development is based on the incubation of an embryo in the presence of labelled substrate at high specific activity in a miniaturized incubation chamber and the subsequent radioassay of metabolic products. Preliminary tests indicated that the treatment did not affect embryos adversely. Estimates of glycolysis, substrate oxidation and incorporation by mouse embryos throughout the whole of the preimplantation period of development were made. This technique could prove particularly useful for investigating substrate requirements and metabolic turnover in species for which few embryos are available for study.