Fig. 5.

Cdx2 depletion from the zygote stage by antisense morpholino arrests pre-implantation development. (A) Non-overlapping sequences that are targeted by the two morpholinos used in this study – Cdx2-MO1 and Cdx2-MO2 – at the Cdx2 locus. (B) Cdx2-MO1- and Cdx2-MO2-injected embryos arrested by the 4-cell stage (grey bars) and by the multicell/compaction stages (black bars), while uninjected embryos and control morpholino (Control-MO)-injected embryos reached blastocyst stage. (C) Only a small percentage of embryos injected with Cdx2-MOs developed to the blastocyst stage, compared to near-100% blastocyst development in controls. (D) Representative images observed for each condition at days 3 and 4 of in vitro culture after injection. (E) Embryos injected with Cdx2 morpholinos that were also arrested, showed high fragmentation rates.