Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T02:50:42.529Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - Morphogenesis of the early mammalian embryo: cell lineage heterogeneity and developmental potential

from SECTION 2 - THE EMBRYO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2014

Tom P Fleming
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
Judith J Eckert
Affiliation:
Princess Anne Hospital
Fay C Thomas
Affiliation:
Capsant Neurotechnologies
Bhavwanti Sheth
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
Hilary Critchley
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Iain Cameron
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
Stephen Smith
Affiliation:
Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine
Get access

Summary

Introduction

The predominant morphological event occurring during mammalian pre-implantation development is the generation of a blastocyst with distinct cell lineages and with differing cell fates. This cell heterogeneity is an essential component of early morphogenesis and is associated with the maintenance of developmental potential for the embryo. Thus, as cleavage proceeds, cells either differentiate into an epithelium, the trophectoderm, which resides on the embryo surface, or remain relatively undifferentiated and occupy the central region of the embryo,forming the inner cell mass (ICM). The trophectoderm is responsible for active transport processes which collectively regulate exchange of ions, nutrients, metabolites, growth factors and other developmentally important molecules between the maternal tract and the embryo interior. It also generates the blastocoelic cavity of the blastocyst by transepithelial transport driven by Na, K-ATPase enzyme located on trophectoderm basolateral membranes. During blastocyst expansion, the ICM, located to one side of the blastocoel beneath the trophectoderm, segregates into epiblast (primary ectoderm) and hypoblast (primary endoderm) lineages, the latter forming adjacent to the blastocoel. After implantation, the trophectoderm and hypoblast give rise to extra-embryonic lineages while the epiblast is the progenitor of the entire fetus.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×