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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Miguel Velazquez, Abdullah Idriss
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2023 Elsevier B.V. During formation of the preimplantation embryo several cellular and molecular milestones take place, making the few cells forming the early embryo vulnerable to environmental stressors than can impair epigenetic reprogramming and controls of gene expression. Although these molecular alterations can result in embryonic death, a significant developmental plasticity is present in the preimplantation embryo that promotes full-term pregnancy. Prenatal epigenetic modifications are inherited during mitosis and can perpetuate specific phenotypes during early postnatal development and adulthood. As such, the preimplantation phase is a developmental window where developmental programming can take place in response to the embryonic microenvironment present in vivo or in vitro. In this review, the relevance of the preimplantation embryo as a developmental stage where offspring health and performance can be programmed is discussed, with emphasis on malnutrition and assisted reproductive technologies; two major environmental insults with important implications for livestock production and human reproductive medicine.
Author(s): Velazquez MA, Idriss A, Chavatte-Palmer P, Fleming TP
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Animal Reproduction Science
Year: 2023
Volume: 256
Print publication date: 01/09/2023
Online publication date: 19/08/2023
Acceptance date: 17/08/2023
ISSN (print): 0378-4320
ISSN (electronic): 1873-2232
Publisher: Elsevier BV
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2023.107321
DOI: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2023.107321
ePrints DOI: 10.57711/ekya-w450