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Insulin stimulates protein synthesis in compacted mouse embryos
1Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia.
Endocrinology
|March 1, 1988
Summary
Insulin significantly enhances protein synthesis in mouse embryos during specific developmental stages. This effect, observed from the compacted 8-cell stage onwards, suggests insulin
Area of Science:
- Developmental biology
- Reproductive science
- Molecular endocrinology
Background:
- Insulin's role in early mammalian development is not fully understood.
- Previous research indicated potential effects of insulin on preimplantation embryos.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of insulin on protein synthesis in mouse preimplantation embryos.
- To determine the developmental stages sensitive to insulin's effects on amino acid incorporation.
Main Methods:
- Culturing mouse embryos (8-cell, blastocyst stages) in vitro with varying insulin concentrations.
- Measuring [3H]-leucine incorporation as a proxy for protein synthesis.
- Utilizing anti-human insulin antiserum to confirm specificity.
Main Results:
- Insulin significantly stimulated [3H]-leucine incorporation in compacted 8-cell embryos, blastocysts, and expanded blastocysts.
- The half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) for stimulation in blastocysts was 0.5 pM.
- Insulin's stimulatory effect was absent in uncompacted 8-cell embryos.
- Insulin treatment elevated protein synthesis levels closer to those observed in vivo.
Conclusions:
- Insulin plays a crucial role in regulating protein synthesis during specific preimplantation developmental stages in mice.
- The onset of insulin sensitivity at compaction correlates with metabolic and protein synthetic activity shifts.
- These findings highlight insulin as a key regulator of early embryonic development.