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ABSTRACT
Trophoblast phagocytosis has been considered important in pregnancy. However, whether human preimplantation blastocysts possess phagocytic activity is still unclear. In this study, we determined the phagocytosis potential in human trophectoderm cells of blastocysts prior to implantation. Fluorescent microspheres were used as markers for phagocytic analysis under transmission electron microscope (TEM) and fluorescence microscopy. Phagocytosis of 1 μm fluorescent microspheres was observed in most (9/11) day-6 and even some (2/9) day-5 blastocysts. More effective phagocytosis occurred in blastocysts at the morula-blastocyst stage of day-6. Furthermore, we observed an increased trend of phagocytic acitivities in polar trophectoderm. Our findings indicated phagocytic ability exists in human blastocysts prior to implantation and the differentiation between polar and mural trophectoderm may be associated with blastocyst implantation.
Abbreviations: TEM: transmission electron microscope; ZP: zona pellucida; PGD: preimplantation genetic diagnosis; ICM: inner cell mass; FGF4: fibroblast growth factor 4
Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to people’s scientific advice and encouragement in the Reproductive Medical Center of Henan provincial People’s Hospital and the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University.
Declaration of interest
All authors read and approved the final manuscript and declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Yan Li
Conceived the study and designed the experiments: YL, JX; Participated in the study design: G-LZ; Performed overall supervision: C-QZ, C-LZ; Performed the experiments: YL; Wrote the manuscript: YL, JX; All authors revised the manuscript and approved the final version.
Jian Xu
Conceived the study and designed the experiments: YL, JX; Participated in the study design: G-LZ; Performed overall supervision: C-QZ, C-LZ; Performed the experiments: YL; Wrote the manuscript: YL, JX; All authors revised the manuscript and approved the final version.
Can-quan Zhou
Conceived the study and designed the experiments: YL, JX; Participated in the study design: G-LZ; Performed overall supervision: C-QZ, C-LZ; Performed the experiments: YL; Wrote the manuscript: YL, JX; All authors revised the manuscript and approved the final version.
Cui-lian Zhang
Conceived the study and designed the experiments: YL, JX; Participated in the study design: G-LZ; Performed overall supervision: C-QZ, C-LZ; Performed the experiments: YL; Wrote the manuscript: YL, JX; All authors revised the manuscript and approved the final version.
Guang-lun Zhuang
Conceived the study and designed the experiments: YL, JX; Participated in the study design: G-LZ; Performed overall supervision: C-QZ, C-LZ; Performed the experiments: YL; Wrote the manuscript: YL, JX; All authors revised the manuscript and approved the final version.