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Preimplantation Development: From Germ Cells to Blastocyst

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Concepts and Applications of Stem Cell Biology

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Abstract

In mammals, after germ cells have arrived in the gonads, they have to undergo several steps to become cells that are competent of forming a totipotent zygote after fusion. The zygote undergoes a series of cleavage divisions which will give rise to a morula stage embryo. At around this stage, the first lineage segregation event takes place leading to the formation of an outer trophectoderm layer and a pluripotent inner cell mass that will give rise to the fetus. In a second lineage segregation event, NANOG-expressing cells form the pluripotent epiblast while GATA4/6-expressing cells will give rise to the yolk sac. Around this time, the blastocyst stage embryo arrives at the uterus for implantation. Blastocyst stage embryos of mouse and human have an invasive type of implantation, while embryos of other mammalian species can have a more superficial type of implantation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Embryology, Anatomy and Physiology, Department Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht Universtity, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Bernard A. J. Roelen

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  1. Bernard A. J. Roelen
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Correspondence to Bernard A. J. Roelen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Ecologia, Evolução e Alterações Ambientais, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências da, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Gabriela Rodrigues

  2. Embryology, Anatomy and Physiology, Department Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht Universtity, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Bernard A. J. Roelen

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Roelen, B.A.J. (2020). Preimplantation Development: From Germ Cells to Blastocyst. In: Rodrigues, G., Roelen, B.A.J. (eds) Concepts and Applications of Stem Cell Biology. Learning Materials in Biosciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43939-2_2

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