Allogeneic matings and immunization have different effects on nulliparous and multiparous mice.

CBA/J female mice have a high rate of spontaneous fetal loss when mated with DBA/2 males. We have confirmed that this fetal resorption rate can be significantly reduced by immunizing the female with C57BL rather than DBA leukocytes. The current studies have been extended to show the effect of continued immunization into second pregnancies.

Cell surface of mouse blastocysts at the trophectoderm-uterine interface during the adhesive stage of implantation.

The molecular basis for the acquisition of adhesiveness between blastocysts and uterine luminal epithelium is an interesting problem in reproductive biology. It is rather difficult to study implantation-stage blastocysts of mice because during the implantation period each blastocyst becomes lodged within a crypt formed by decidualizing stroma. After trophectoderm adheres to uterine luminal epithelium, it is not possible to flush intact blastocysts from the uterus by standard recovery procedures.

The glycocalyx of the mouse uterine luminal epithelium during estrus, early pregnancy, the peri-implantation period, and delayed implantation. I. Acquisition of Ricinus communis I binding sites during pregnancy.

Mouse uteri were examined during estrus, early pregnancy, the peri-implantation period, and delayed implantation to determine whether changes in the surface coat of the luminal epithelium could be associated with receptivity of the uterus to the presence of blastocyst-stage embryos or blastocyst adhesion. By using alkaline bismuth subnitrate to label periodate-oxidized glycols within the glycocalyx we were able to measure the thickness and examine the morphology of the glycocalyx by electron microscopy. Ferritin-conjugated Ricinus communis agglutinin (RCA-I) demonstrated the presence of D-galactose at terminal, nonreducing positions within the glycocalyx.

Trophectoderm cell subpopulations in the periimplantation mouse blastocyst.

Trophectoderm of the preimplantation mouse blastocyst is composed of two cell subpopulations relative to their proximity to the inner cell mass. The polar trophectoderm overlying the inner cell mass proliferates to form the ectoplacental cone, and the mural trophectoderm endoreplicates and gives rise to giant cells. We examined specific differences in the two trophectoderm cell populations using a lectin (Dolichos biflorus) to detect cell surface characteristics and a simple sugar (D-Gal) to detect differences in incorporation.

Sera from women with histories of repeated pregnancy losses cause abnormalities in mouse peri-implantation blastocysts.

Incubation of peri-implantation mouse blastocysts in the presence of untreated human sera resulted in destruction of the blastocysts. Heating the serum resulted in deactivation of the non-specific toxic factor. Whereas heat-treated serum from women with normal obstetrical histories, and men, supported normal trophoblast attachment and outgrowth, sera from women with reproductive dysfunction resulted in inhibition of attachment or disruption of the trophoblast cells.

[Reticulovascular radiologic pattern in primary arterial pulmonary hypertension].

We tested the value of the radiographic indexes in 16 patients with the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension of unknown etiology. The index PL/T (lung-lobe-thoracic) was abnormal in 62.5%, the Osawa-Kanemoto index (DPA(T/2] was also abnormal in 62.

Embryology of the mouse from ovulation through peri-implantation stages in vitro.

Because mammalian embryos derive their nourishment from a placenta their early development is different from that manifested by embryos that develop outside the mother's body. Although development in mammals may be studied by using representative examples obtained by recovery methods, it is very fascinating to watch living embryos develop in the laboratory. Advances in culture techniques have made it possible to observe development of pre-implantation mammalian embryos entirely in vitro.

Lectin binding of mouse blastocysts: appearance of Dolichos biflorus binding sites on the trophoblast during delayed implantation and their subsequent disappearance during implantation.

Mouse blastocysts were recovered from the uterus during experimental delay of implantation and following reactivation by estradiol and progesterone. The blastocysts were exposed to 7 different ferritin-conjugated lectins and then processed for electron microscopy. Binding of the lectins to the surface of the trophoblast was assessed by visualization of the ferritin particles using transmission electron microscopy.

Morphodynamics of outgrowths of mouse trophoblast in the presence and absence of a monolayer of uterine epithelium.

Mouse blastocysts were cultured in the presence and absence of a confluent uterine, luminal, epithelial monolayer in order to assess (10 comparative developmental abilities and (2) the existence and nature of embryo-uterine intercellular contacts. Embryonic development and mural trophoblast outgrowth were examined by light, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, and by time-lapse cinematography. The results demonstrate that cultured mouse blastocysts are capable of development that is essentially equivalent to the early egg cylinder stage in the presence and absence of a uterine epithelial substratum.

Molecular and cellular aspects of facultative delayed implantation in the mouse.

Various aspects of RNA, DNA and protein synthesis, as well as cellular fine structure, were examined in mouse embryos during the developmental diapause associated with delayed implantation, and during the reactivation of the embryo either by hormonal administration or by culture in vitro. The findings from these studies demonstrate that a cessation of DNA synthesis and mitosis, and a marked decline in the level of protein synthesis, but not of RNA synthesis, accompany diapause. Reactivation of the blastocyst results in the resumption of DNA synthesis and cell division, as well as in quantitative and qualitative changes in protein synthesis.