BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
4 May 2016 Chemokine Receptor Type 4 Regulates Migration and Invasion of Trophectoderm Cell in the Human Blastocyst
Siyu Bao, Tianjie Li, Xiaoyu Long, Jinjuan Zhang, Hongcui Zhao, Yun Ren, Yue Zhao, Rong Li, Tao Tan, Yang Yu, Jie Qiao
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) has been suggested to regulate cell migration and invasion in human somatic cells. However, its role in human oocytes and embryos has not been investigated directly. Here we show that CXCR4 mRNA was initially expressed at the 4-cell stage, and its expression gradually increased until the blastocyst stage, whereas its protein was detectable only after the 8-cell stage. In addition, CXCR4 mRNA and protein were expressed in the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cell of the blastocyst. Furthermore, we collected embryos from women whose embryos had undergone successful implantation (SI) and those whose embryos had failed implantation (FI) in their fresh cycles. TE cells from the FI group had reduced CXCR4 mRNA expression relative to those from the SI group but not in the ICM. Through ICM replacement, we constructed mouse blastocysts in which Cxcr4 was specifically knocked down in TE cells to simulate the CXCR4 expression profile of human blastocysts from the FI group. In this case, we found that the implantation rate significantly decreased after transfer of reconstructed embryos. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that CXCR4 can induce cell apoptosis and migration mediated by Rho signaling. This hypothesis was confirmed by invasion and migration experiments, using a human trophoblast cell line. The present study is the first to explore the characteristics of CXCR4 expression using human oocytes and embryos and suggests that CXCR4 is required upstream of TE cell apoptosis and migration. CXCR4 expression is a potential biomarker to predict implantation competence during assisted reproductive technologies.

Siyu Bao, Tianjie Li, Xiaoyu Long, Jinjuan Zhang, Hongcui Zhao, Yun Ren, Yue Zhao, Rong Li, Tao Tan, Yang Yu, and Jie Qiao "Chemokine Receptor Type 4 Regulates Migration and Invasion of Trophectoderm Cell in the Human Blastocyst," Biology of Reproduction 95(1), (4 May 2016). https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod.116.138826
Received: 18 January 2016; Accepted: 1 April 2016; Published: 4 May 2016
KEYWORDS
CXCR4
human fertilized embryo
implantation
Rho signaling pathway
trophectoderm cell
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top