Summary
The time of appearance and the distribution of alkaline and acid phosphatase and nonspecific esterase was investigated in cleavage and early postimplantation stages of mouse and rat embryos.
Alkaline and acid phosphatase appeared for the first time in 8-cell embryos. Activity of both enzymes grew progressively stronger to blastocyst stage. Acid phosphatase activity was revealed in the form of fine and coarse granules distributed evenly in the cytoplasm. Alkaline phosphatase was predominantly localized in plasma membranes. There was no difference in intensity of reaction between trophoblastic cells and the inner cell mass.
After implantation acid phosphatase was localized in coarse granules in the apical portion of entodermal cells. With the appearance of mesoderm, the cells of embryonal entoderm became flattened and devoid of acid phosphatase activity which was restricted to cells of extraembryonic entoderm. The activity of nonspecific esterase was not detected in preimplantation stages. In postimplantation embryos it roughly corresponded to the activity of acid phosphatase. Alkaline phosphatase was localized in cell membranes of ectodermal cells. The mesodermal cells of mouse embryo displayed a somewhat weaker activity than ectodermal cells, while in the rat embryo the same layer remained completely nonreactive.
Our findings on the distribution of the enzymes mentioned did not reveal any kind of polarity or bilateral symmetry in preimplantation stages. In postimplantation stages acid phosphatase and nonspecific esterase are probably bound to lysosomes and play an important role in embryonic nutrition. The absence of alkaline phosphatase from entodermal cells is somewhat puzzling and suggests that the process of molecular transport in those cells is most probably restricted to endocytosis. Our results suggest that all blastomeres are identical with respect to enzyme distribution and that the first signs of differentiation of enzyme content appear with the formation of germ layers.
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This investigation was supported by Yugoslav Federal Science Foundation Grant No. 812/3, and in part by NIH PL 480 Agreement No. 02-038-1.
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Solter, D., Damjanov, I. & Škreb, N. Distribution of hydrolytic enzymes in early rat and mouse embryos — A reappraisal. Z. Anat. Entwickl. Gesch. 139, 119–126 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00523633
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00523633