Immunolocalization of fibronectin and laminin within rat blastocysts cultured under serum-free conditions

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Blastocysts (approximately 50 per female) were collected on Day 5 of gestation from immature Sprague-Dawley rats superovulated using FSH/hCG-loaded mini-osmotic pumps and a single injection of the LHRH analogue, des-gly10 (D-ala6)-LHRH-ethylamide. The cytoplasmic distribution of fibronectin and laminin was determined by immunofluorescence within these blastocysts, either immediately following their isolation or after they had been cultured in serum-free medium for 48-96 h (to allow trophectodermal cell attachment and outgrowth). In addition, inner cell masses (ICMs; isolated by immunosurgery) were cultured under serum-free conditions and immunofluorescently stained for the presence of the two adhesive glycoproteins. Within the freshly isolated blastocysts, positive immunostaining was obtained only for fibronectin and this was associated with the trophectodermal layer. After 48-96 h of culture, the cytoplasm of all trophectodermal cells contained both fibronectin (organized as a slightly granular network) and laminin (the staining pattern was distinctly punctate and perinuclear concentrations of immunoreactivity were evident). ICM-cells stained intensely for the presence of laminin at 48, 72 and 96 h of culture, but appeared to contain little to no fibronectin. While further studies using serum-free culture are needed to define the hormonal regulation of this process, these findings support a role for early gestation rat trophectodermal cells, in addition to the established involvement of ICM-derived parietal endodermal cells, in the synthesis of extracellular matrix components found in Reichert's membrane. The appearance of trophectoderm-associated fibronectin in freshly isolated blastocysts before the establishment of the parietal endoderm layer may implicate this glycoprotein in the provision of a substrate for the migration of these cells as they form an endodermal lining to the blastocoele.