Abstract
Our purpose was to clarify the involvement of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) family in the regulation of preimplantation embryo development. The effects of activin-A and TGF-beta on the rates of morula and blastocyst formations as well as on the cleavage velocity of a mouse two-cell embryo in vitro were analyzed. The gene expressions of these two growth factors in various developmental stages were also studied using RT-PCR. Activin-A at a concentration of 0.2 ng/ml significantly stimulated not only the rate of morula formation but also the velocity of embryo cleavage, whereas no significant effect was found with TGF-beta. RT-PCR revealed that activin-A subunit mRNA, but not TGF-beta mRNA, was detected in preimplantation mouse embryo at any developmental stage. Activin-A plays an important role in the regulation of preimplantation mouse embryo development in an autocrine fashion.
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