Effects of ERα-specific antagonist on mouse preimplantation embryo development and zygotic genome activation.

Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) is essential for normal development of mammalian preimplantation embryos. Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) has been implicated in early embryogenesis, and controls the expression of genes associated with proliferation, differentiation and development of cell and target organs via a genomic effect. The objective of this study was to determine whether ERα plays a role in early embryo development and affects ZGA gene expression.

Epigallocatechin gallate promotes the development of mouse 2-cell embryos in vitro by regulating mitochondrial activity and expression of genes related to p53 signalling pathway.

Preliminary studies have found that the epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) at proper concentration could promote development of pre-implantation mouse embryos in vitro. However, the underlying mechanisms have not been well understood. In this study, we collected 1-cell embryos from Kunming (KM) mice, cultured them in M16 medium or M16 medium supplemented with 10 μg/mL EGCG and investigated the effects of EGCG on mitochondrial activity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) level of 2-cell embryos.