Fig. 2.

Effects of silencing hESC RhoA and Rac1 on embryo invasion. (A) Silencing of hESC Rac1 with siRNAs (Rac1-5 and Rac1-6) inhibits embryo invasion (dotted lines indicate approximate area of trophoblast spread). Human ESCs were transfected with 25 nM each Rac1 siRNA or 25 nM nonsilencing (control) siRNA 24 h before the addition of human blastocysts. (B) Silencing of hESC RhoA by using siRNAs (RhoA-6 and RhoA-7) enhances embryo invasion. Cells were transfected as above before coculture. (C) RhoA silencing in hESCs significantly increases the area of embryo spread, whereas Rac1 silencing inhibits spreading. Results shown are mean areas ± SEM. Significant differences between control cells are indicated by * (P < 0.05).