Three-dimensional localisation of NANOG, OCT4, and E-CADHERIN in porcine pre- and peri-implantation embryos.

The expression patterns of NANOG and OCT4 have previously been reported to differ markedly between mammalian species indicating distinct species-specific roles during development. We investigate the three-dimensional expression pattern of NANOG and OCT4 in porcine pre- and peri-implantation embryos. The expression of NANOG differed remarkably from that reported in other species. NANOG was not detected in the inner cell mass of hatched porcine blastocysts, but later appeared in the epiblast and hypoblast of spherical blastocysts where Rauber's layer had disintegrated. In pre-gastrulating, filamentous embryos NANOG was localised to nuclei in a minor portion of the epiblast cells in which E-CADHERIN seemed to be up-regulated and OCT4 down-regulated. Later NANOG was restricted to the potential PGCs. OCT4 was detected in inner cell mass, epiblast, and mesoderm, and we found that OCT4 expression, in contrast to earlier speculations, at least in hatched blastocysts, resembles the expression pattern in the mouse embryo.