ROBERT MICHAEL ROBERTS

..The asymmetrical distribution of Cdx2 gene products in the oocyte and embryo defines the lineage to trophectoderm...

..Hence, a squelching mechanism underpins the transcriptional silencing of CGA by POU5F1 and could have general relevance to how pluripotency is maintained and how the trophoblast lineage emerges from pluripotent precursor cells...

..Here, we examined whether maternal diet, specifically increased n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake, of ewes with a constant body condition score around the time of conception influenced sex ratio...

..Our goal here has been to determine whether the ovine (ov) Tkdp-1 and IFNT genes possess a similar transcriptional code...

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..Since SAPK pathways are ancient and the IFN system is confined to vertebrates, the organization of the Sin1 gene and the sequences of the Sin1 protein have been compared across a wide taxonomic range of species...

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..The IFNT provide an illustration of how a gene control region can be commandeered and then refined to provide a radically changed pattern of expression...

..Conceivably, disparate signaling mechanisms trigger common downstream events necessary to secure a successful pregnancy...

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..Recent derivation of TSC from blastocysts of the rhesus monkey suggests that isolation of the human equivalents may be possible and will reveal the extent to which mechanisms uncovered by using animal models are true in our own species...

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..These genes have also continued to duplicate to form an extensive family. Consequently, their involvement in early pregnancy is a feature of ruminants and not of other mammalian species...

..The up-regulation of IFNT in the elongating bovine conceptus is likely due to the combinatorial effects of PKA, Ets2, and CBP/p300 and triggered via growth factors released from maternal endometrium...

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..001) among conceptuses of different age, although two, representing boIFN1a and boIFN3c, predominated throughout development. Notably, no alteration in overall IFNT variant diversity was detected in CT-1 cells over time (P=0.124)...

..IFNT treatment mimics pregnancy, but relatively high doses of im-injected IFNT are required to elicit a full endometrial response...

..These data emphasize the importance of a complex Ets-2 enhancer for expression of IFNT and suggest a means whereby the mother can exert control over conceptus IFN-tau production...

..It exhibited no inhibitory activity. These data suggest that the function of the TKDP, like certain Kunitz proteins found in snake venoms, may not be in proteinase inhibition...

..Together, these results suggest that DLX3 has a central role in controlling IFNT gene expression by associating with ETS2 on the IFNT promoter...

..The data are consistent with the hypothesis that 4% O(2) favors the molecular mechanisms required for the maintenance of pluripotency...

..A number of mechanisms, all of which are testable, are discussed to provide an explanation for the phenomenon. We conclude the review by discussing potential implications of these observations to human medicine and agriculture...

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..In summary, a monoclonal-based assay has been established that is sensitive enough to detect PAG in maternal serum by the forth week of pregnancy, but does not suffer from carry-over of antigen from a previous pregnancy...

..It is possible that the TKDPs provide a broad range of specificities against maternal proteinases that might be damaging to the trophoblast during pregnancy...

..They exhibit high telomerase activity, a short cell cycle interval, and a normal karyotype, and are able to generate teratomas. Currently, the competence of these lines for contributing to germ-line chimeras is being tested...

..IFNT targets a complex range of physiological processes during the establishment of pregnancy...

..Such cell lines derived from individual animals could provide a means for testing the safety and efficacy of stem cell-derived tissue grafts when returned to the same pigs at a later age...

..Thus, sexual dimorphism in IFN-tau production is observed in both IVP and in vivo-produced expanded blastocysts, but is lost by day 14 of in vivo development...

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..In conclusion, BMP4 induced conversion of hESC exclusively towards trophoblast; FGF2 slowed differentiation, while O(2) accelerated this process and promoted syncytiotrophoblast formation...

..The data show that the source of calories provided in a nutritionally complete diet to mature female mice can influence sex of offspring born...

..In conclusion, glucose above 2.5 mM impairs bovine embryo development and increases sex ratio, most likely as a result of increased pentose-phosphate (PP) pathway activity in female embryos...

..These studies demonstrate the heavy concentration of IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 in cells of the LE and superficial GE, which appear to be the main targets for IFN-tau...

..Sin1 provides a possible link among type I IFN action, stress-activated signaling pathways, and control of prostaglandin production...

..In addition, hES cell growth under hypoxia provided enhanced formation of embryoid bodies. Hypoxic culture would appear to be necessary to maintain full pluripotency of hES cells...

..The data are consistent with the hypothesis that Ets-2 has a general and possibly essential role in controlling the activity of genes associated with trophectoderm differentiation...

..We predict that SIN1 is a scaffold protein that organizes antiapoptotic responses in stressed cells, whereas PCBP2, its binding partner, provides for the selective expression of cell survival factors through posttranslational events...

..These data could explain the difficulty of creating monozygotic twins from two-cell stage embryos...

..In CF1 mice, superovulation has little effect on development to blastocyst, but enforces a greater degree of lineage restriction than natural breeding, most likely through constraints imposed by the zona pellucida...

..05). In conclusion, the N-3 diet had negative effects on murine fecundity and maternal behavior, whereas the N-6 diet favored birth of daughters...

..Since males fed the VHF diet had neither more Y-sperm nor sired more sons than daughters, the dietary effects are manifested exclusively through the female...

..We propose that regulation of hCGalpha by Ets-2 and CREB enables coordinated expression of hCGalpha with its partner hCGbeta subunit...

..The conservation of this ancestral change suggests that it may be important to PAG function, particularly the fact that PAGs lack proteinase activity in spite of the conservation of active site residues in most PAGs...

..The studies are expected to reveal mechanisms underpinning the transition of embryonic stem cells to trophectoderm, a developmental event that immediately precedes implantation and a time when expression of hCG begins. ..

..Together these studies are expected to provide information on two key events in early pregnancy, the formation of an early placenta and immediate maternal responses to the presence of a tiny embryo attaching to her uterine wall. ..

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..Together these studies are expected to provide information on two key events in early pregnancy, the formation of an early placenta and immediate maternal responses to the presence of a tiny embryo attaching to her uterine wall. ..

..Together these studies will provide information on roles for IFN in non- pathogenic processes and insight into how trophectoderm differentiates during early embryonic development. ..

..Also by generating such pluripotent cells from umbilical cords of babies born to mothers that developed pre-eclampsia, we hope to recreate the cell type that caused the disease in the first place. ..