ArticlePLoS biology2022
Cortical softening elicits zygotic contractility during mouse preimplantation development.
Article in PLoS biology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- A single small molecule-based human embryo model reveals V-ATPase requirement in mammalian blastocyst cavitation.Cell research · 2026Article
- Unified Transcriptome and Mechanics Map of the Intact Mammalian Preimplantation Embryo In Situ.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Inverse bleb membrane protrusions pump fluid within the early mouse embryo.Nature cell biology · 2024Article
- Competition and synergy of Arp2/3 and formins in nucleating actin waves.Cell reports · 2024Article
- Mechanics of human embryo compaction.Nature · 2024Article
- How great thou ART: biomechanical properties of oocytes and embryos as indicators of quality in assisted reproductive technologies.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2024Review
- Competition and Synergy of Arp2/3 and Formins in Nucleating Actin Waves.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Cell fragmentation in mouse preimplantation embryos induced by ectopic activation of the polar body extrusion pathway.The EMBO journal · 2023Article
- Ezrin expression in female reproductive tissues: A review of regulation and pathophysiological implications.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2023Review
- Live imaging of echinoderm embryos to illuminate evo-devo.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Actomyosin contractility is a major engine of preimplantation morphogenesis, which starts at the 8-cell stage during mouse embryonic development. Contractility becomes first visible with the appearance of periodic cortical waves of contraction (PeCoWaCo), which travel around blastomeres in an oscillatory fashion. How contractility of the mouse embryo becomes active remains unknown. We have taken advantage of PeCoWaCo to study the awakening of contractility during preimplantation development. We find that PeCoWaCo become detectable in most embryos only after the second cleavage and gradually increase their oscillation frequency with each successive cleavage. To test the influence of cell size reduction during cleavage divisions, we use cell fusion and fragmentation to manipulate cell size across a 20- to 60-μm range. We find that the stepwise reduction in cell size caused by cleavage divisions does not explain the presence of PeCoWaCo or their accelerating rhythm. Instead, we discover that blastomeres gradually decrease their surface tensions until the 8-cell stage and that artificially softening cells enhances PeCoWaCo prematurely. We further identify the programmed down-regulation of the formin Fmnl3 as a required event to soften the cortex and expose PeCoWaCo. Therefore, during cleavage stages, cortical softening, mediated by Fmnl3 down-regulation, awakens zygotic contractility before preimplantation morphogenesis.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.