The development of human embryos can be artificially paused. A research team with Viennese participation has now discovered this during experiments with stem cell models. The mechanism could be useful in artificial insemination, it is said.
According to this fact, embryos retain a phylogenetically ancient mechanism for taking a break – the so-called diapause – in development. This is not used in natural pregnancy, but could provide more temporal flexibility in artificial insemination, writes the team led by biologist Nicolas Rivron, who conducts research at the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA).
Breaks are mandatory for many mammals
Many mammals, such as deer, seals and skunks, take a mandatory developmental pause of a few weeks or months as early embryos so that they are not born in poor conditions, but at the desired time: in late spring, when there is enough food and is enough. Have time to grow big and strong for the next cold winter.
The signal route is artificially interrupted
This rest period occurs shortly before the embryo implants in the uterus, Rivron said in a news release. It can also be induced in human stem cell models called blastoids, which resemble early stages of embryonic development, by disrupting a signaling pathway called mTor. It regulates the growth, maturation and reproduction of cells. The embryonic models are awakened from their ‘sleeping beauty’ when the mTor signaling pathway is reactivated.
Interesting for artificial insemination
“Then they resume normal development,” the research team reports in the study, which was published in the journal “Cell.” “Such a dormant state could provide a greater window of time to assess the health of the embryo during in vitro fertilization (artificial insemination) treatment.” Moreover, it could then be possible “to synchronize the embryo with the mother”. improvement of implantation in the uterus”.
Source: Krone
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