Cell surface glycoproteins mediate compaction, trophoblast attachment, and endoderm formation during early mouse development.

Early mouse embryos undergo several morphogenetic processes, such as compaction, trophoblast attachment, and endoderm formation that can be studied in vitro. Several polyspecific and monospecific antisera have been used to perturb these processes in a nontoxic, reversible fashion. One of the antibody-defined molecules, cell CAM 120/80, promotes epithelial cell adhesion, embryo compaction, and endoderm formation. The results suggest the presence of another such molecule(s) involved in these same processes. Evidence is also presented that another set of antibody-defined molecules, GP 140, involved in attachment of somatic cells to the substrate, mediates trophoblast attachment of the mouse blastocyst. The possible role of these molecules in governing the processes leading to cell lineages in the mouse embryo is discussed.