Chang Ching-Pin, Chen Lei, Crabtree Gerald R
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Genesis. 2003 May;36(1):7-11. doi: 10.1002/gene.10186.
In mouse developmental studies it is frequently desirable to isolate embryos of a specific age. However, the traditional staging of embryonic development based on postcoital dates often erroneously predicts the embryonic age, resulting in unwarranted sacrifice of the pregnant mother. Here we report a noninvasive way of staging embryonic development in utero. A clinical 14 MHz ultrasound system was employed to assess the morphology and size of developing embryos from embryonic day 7.5 to 18.5. We demonstrate that the developmental age of the mouse embryos can be accurately determined based on the sonographic morphology and size of the embryos. This noninvasive ultrasound application requires no anesthesia of the mice and the entire process of staging can be completed within 5-10 min. Empirically, this approach is applicable to mice of various genetic backgrounds and significantly enhances the efficiency of studying murine embryogenesis.
在小鼠发育研究中，经常需要分离特定年龄的胚胎。然而，基于交配后日期的传统胚胎发育分期常常错误地预测胚胎年龄，导致不必要地牺牲怀孕母鼠。在此，我们报告一种在子宫内对胚胎发育进行分期的非侵入性方法。使用临床14兆赫超声系统评估从胚胎第7.5天到18.5天发育中胚胎的形态和大小。我们证明，基于胚胎的超声形态和大小可以准确确定小鼠胚胎的发育年龄。这种非侵入性超声应用不需要对小鼠进行麻醉，整个分期过程可在5 - 10分钟内完成。根据经验，这种方法适用于各种遗传背景的小鼠，并显著提高了研究小鼠胚胎发生的效率。
