The first differentiative event in mammalian development is segregation of the inner cell mass and trophectoderm (TE) lineages. The epithelial TE cells pump f luid into the spherical blastocyst to form the blastocyst cavity. This activity is fuelled by glucose supplied through facilitative glucose transporters. However, the reported kinetic characteristics of blastocyst glucose transport are inconsistent with those of the previously identified transporters and suggested the presence of a high-affinity glucose carrier. We identified and localized the primary transporter in TE cells. It is glucose transporter GLUT3, previously described in the mouse as neuron-specific. In the differentiating embryo, GLUT3 is targeted to the apical membranes of the polarized cells of the compacted morula and then to the apical membranes of TE cells where it has access to maternal glucose. In contrast, GLUT1 was restricted to basolateral membranes of the outer TE cells in both compacted morulae and blastocysts. Using antisense oligodeoxynucleotides to specifically block protein expression, we confirmed that GLUT3 and not GLUT1 is the functional transporter for maternal glucose on the apical TE. More importantly, however, GLUT3 expression is required for blastocyst formation and hence this primary differentiation in mammalian development. This requirement is independent of its function as a glucose transporter because blastocysts will form in the absence of glucose. Thus the vectorial expression of GLUT3 into the apical membrane domains of the outer cells of the morula, which in turn form the TE cells of the blastocyst, is required for blastocyst formation.

The results of this study challenge the widely held view that growth hormone (GH) acts only during the postnatal period. RNA phenotyping shows transcripts for the GH receptor and GH-binding protein in mouse preimplantation embryos of all stages from fertilized eggs (day 1) to blastocysts (day 4). An antibody specific to the cytoplasmic region of the GH receptor revealed receptor protein expression, first in two-cell embryos, the stage of activation of the embryonic genome (day 2), and in all subsequent stages. In cleavage-stage embryos this immunoreactivity was localized mainly to the nucleus, but clear evidence of membrane labeling was apparent in blastocysts. GH receptor immunoreactivity was also observed in cumulus cells associated with unfertilized oocytes but not in the unfertilized oocytes. The blastocyst receptor was demonstrated to be functional, exhibiting the classic bell-shaped dose-response curves for GH stimulation of both 3-O-methyl glucose transport and protein synthesis. Maximal stimulation of 40-50% was seen for both responses at less than 1 ng͞ml recombinant GH, suggesting a role for maternal GH. However mRNA transcripts for GH were also detected from the morula stage (day 3) by using reverse transcription-PCR, and GH immunoreactivity was seen in blastocysts. These observations raise the possibility of a paracrine͞autocrine GH loop regulating embryonic development in its earliest stages.Embryonic and fetal growth have long been considered to be independent of pituitary growth hormone (GH). However, this view is challenged by a growing body of evidence which demonstrates a role for GH in the development of the fetus. Newborn Laron dwarfs, lacking a functional GH receptor, are more than 2 SD shorter than normal (1). Exogenous GH has been shown to restore embryonic growth in rats after transplantation of parts of embryos into hypophysectomized hosts (2). A number of fetal tissues has been shown to respond to GH in vitro (3-6). GH receptor transcripts have been demonstrated in day 12 rat embryos and placentae (7), day 51 sheep embryos (8), and mouse placenta (9). Immunoreactive GH receptor was observed in the human fetus from the second trimester (10, 11). Recently GH receptor transcripts and immunoreactivity have been demonstrated in germ-line competent mouse embryonic stem cells, and GH receptor transcripts were also demonstrated in mouse blastocysts (12).Preimplantation stages earlier than the blastocyst, however, were not examined by Ohlsson et al. (12). Furthermore, there was no evidence that these very early embryos were capable of receptor synthesis or of signal transduction after ligand binding to expressed receptor. In this study we demonstrate the presence of GH receptors in the early embryo from fertilization to the blastocyst stage and the ability of GH to influence the metabolism of blastocyst. Moreover, we report the expression of GH by preimplantation blastocysts, raising the possibility of paracrine͞autocrine regulation of embryonic growth by GH. MATERIALS AND METHODSGene Ex...

Preliminary work suggested that insulin affects preimplantation mouse embryos. We investigated the effects of insulin on incorporation of [3H]-leucine by embryos cultured for long (greater than 24 h) or short (4 h) terms with insulin. Insulin stimulated incorporation by compacted 8-cell embryos, blastocysts and expanded blastocysts. The stimulation in blastocysts had an EC50 of 0.5 pM in the presence of 1 g/L BSA and was blocked by anti-human insulin anti-serum. Inclusion of insulin in the medium elevated the levels of incorporation towards those of embryos developing in vivo. The stimulation was not observed in uncompacted 8-cell embryos. The ontogeny of stimulation at compaction coincides with a switch in energy dependence from lactate and pyruvate to glucose and an increase in protein synthetic activity.