| First Author | Tsukamoto S | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Science | Volume | 321 |
| Issue | 5885 | Pages | 117-20 |
| PubMed ID | 18599786 | Mgi Jnum | J:137421 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3799545 | Doi | 10.1126/science.1154822 |
| Citation | Tsukamoto S, et al. (2008) Autophagy is essential for preimplantation development of mouse embryos. Science 321(5885):117-20 |
| abstractText | After fertilization, maternal proteins in oocytes are degraded and new proteins encoded by the zygotic genome are synthesized. We found that autophagy, a process for the degradation of cytoplasmic constituents in the lysosome, plays a critical role during this period. Autophagy was triggered by fertilization and up-regulated in early mouse embryos. Autophagy-defective oocytes derived from oocyte-specific Atg5 (autophagy-related 5) knockout mice failed to develop beyond the four- and eight-cell stages if they were fertilized by Atg5-null sperm, but could develop if they were fertilized by wild-type sperm. Protein synthesis rates were reduced in the autophagy-null embryos. Thus, autophagic degradation within early embryos is essential for preimplantation development in mammals. |
