Becker D L, Leclerc-David C, Warner A
Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, UK.
Dev Suppl. 1992:113-8.
In the mouse embryo, gap junctions first appear at the 8-cell stage as compaction is about to take place. Compaction of the embryo is important for the differentiation of the first two cell types; the inner cell mass and the trophectoderm. Our studies examine the contribution of gap junctional communication at this stage of development. We have characterised the normal sequence of appearance of gap junction protein and its distribution. The extent of communication as shown by the passage of dye between cells has been recorded in both normal embryos and embryos treated with drugs that influence gap junctional communication. Comparisons have been made with embryos that express a lethal gap junction defect and attempts were made to rescue such embryos by increasing their gap junction communication.
在小鼠胚胎中，随着即将发生致密化，间隙连接首次出现在8细胞阶段。胚胎的致密化对于最初两种细胞类型即内细胞团和滋养外胚层的分化很重要。我们的研究考察了发育这一阶段间隙连接通讯的作用。我们已经确定了间隙连接蛋白出现的正常顺序及其分布。在正常胚胎和用影响间隙连接通讯的药物处理过的胚胎中，都记录了细胞间染料传递所显示的通讯程度。已将其与表达致死性间隙连接缺陷的胚胎进行了比较，并尝试通过增加间隙连接通讯来挽救此类胚胎。
