The life of mammals begins with the formation of a pluripotent fertilized egg through fertilization between the egg and sperm. After a series of cell division, polarization during the eight cell phase, and subsequent lineage differentiation starting from the mulberry embryo, a blastocyst is formed, which includes an inner cell mass, a primitive endoderm, and a nourishing outer embryonic layer. This process is accompanied by significant metabolic remodeling. The regulatory role of lipid metabolism on early embryonic development in mammals is still unclear, and there is a lack of reports on the complete panoramic view of lipid remodeling during early embryonic development in mammals.
Recently, the Research Group of Shui Guanghou, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Research Group of Zhang Jin, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, and the Research Group of Li Da, Shengjing Hospital, affiliated to China Medical University, published a research paper entitled Low input lipomics regains lipid metabolism modeling during early mammalian embryo development (DOI: 10.1038/s41556-023-01341-3) in Nature Cell Biology, describing the lipid map of dynamic changes during the development of mouse and human early embryos, and clarifying the degree of lipid unsatisfaction The function and mechanism of regulating embryonic development.
This study developed a targeted lipidomics method that can simultaneously meet the requirements of low sample size and high coverage, achieving metabolite detection at the level of a small number of mouse embryos. Based on the single-phase extraction method of isopropanol and the extraction method of Bligh&Dyer, consistent local pattern lipidome remodeling data were obtained through mutual validation. The dynamic changes in individual lipid content during pre implantation embryonic development support lipid mediated functions, such as an increase in lipid raft formation during development to adapt to enhanced signal transduction during the blastocyst stage, and an increase in triglyceride content from the four cell stage to the blastocyst stage, which can provide raw materials for enhanced oxidative activity in the later stage. Research has shown that the pre implantation embryonic development of mice exhibits an increase in lipid unsaturation (reflected in the increase of monounsaturated fatty acid MUFA), and there is species conservation in the trend of lipid changes and unsaturation during early human embryonic development. In addition, studies have found that upregulation of lipid unsaturation is crucial for blastocyst formation. Lipid monounsaturation mediated by stearoyl CoA desaturase-1 regulates the correct distribution of skeletal proteins through polar protein fluidity, affecting the formation of apical and basal lateral domains, and ultimately affecting embryo implantation rate.
This study depicts a panoramic view of lipid levels in early mouse and human embryos, providing resources for exploring the remodeling of endogenous lipids during mammalian pre implantation embryo development and offering new insights into the mechanism by which lipid unsaturation regulates embryonic development and implantation.
The research work has received support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation.
Stage specific lipidomic characteristics of mouse embryonic development before implantation
