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Absence of connexin43 and connexin45 does not disturb pre- and peri-implantation development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2015

Kiyomasa Nishii ,
Yasushi Kobayashi  and
Yosaburo Shibata
Kiyomasa Nishii*
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, National Defense Medical College, 3–2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359–8513, Japan.
Yasushi Kobayashi
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, National Defense Medical College, 3–2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359–8513, Japan.
Yosaburo Shibata
Affiliation:
Fukuoka Prefectural University, 4395 Ita, Tagawa, Fukuoka 825–8585, Japan.
*
All correspondence to: Kiyomasa Nishii. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, National Defense Medical College, 3–2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359–8513, Japan. e-mail: nishii@ndmc.ac.jp
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Summary

Gap junctional intercellular communication is assumed to play an important role during pre- and peri-implantation development. In this study, we eliminated connexin43 (Cx43) and connexin45 (Cx45), major gap junctional proteins in the pre- and peri-implantation embryo. We generated Cx43−/−Cx45−/− embryos by Cx43+/−Cx45+/− intercrossing, because mice deficient in Cx43 (Cx43−/−) exhibit perinatal lethality and those deficient in Cx45 (Cx45−/−) exhibit early embryonic lethality. Wild-type, Cx43−/−, Cx45−/−, and Cx43−/−Cx45−/− blastocysts all showed similar outgrowths in in vitro culture. Moreover, Cx43−/−Cx45−/− embryos were obtained at the expected Mendelian ratio up to embryonic day 9.5, when the Cx45−/− mutation proved lethal. The Cx43−/−Cx45−/− embryos seemed to have no additional developmental abnormalities in comparison with the single knockout strains. Thus, pre- and peri-implantation development does not require Cx43 and Cx45. Other gap junctional proteins are expressed around these stages and these may compensate for the lack of Cx43 and Cx45.

Keywords

Blastocyst cultureConnexin43Connexin45KnockoutPeri-implantation development
Type
Research Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , June 2016 , pp. 457 - 464
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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