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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Jan 25.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Biol. 2011 Jan 6;21(2):114–119. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.12.006

Figure 4. Hemicentin-1-Deficient Embryos Arrest Prior to Implantation with Multiple Nuclei.

Figure 4

(A–D) Images of age-matched wild-type (A and B) and hemicentin-1-deficient (C and D) embryos from matings of wild-type and hemicentin-1 heterozygous parents. DIC images are shown with corresponding nuclear staining with YOYO-1 (green) and anti-myosin IIB (red). Scale bars represent 20 μm.

(A and B) Wild-type embryos progress to the two-cell stage with mononucleate cells (arrowheads) and external polar bodies (arrow).

(C and D) In contrast, hemicentin-deficient embryos arrest prior to the four-cell stage. Arrested embryos contain multinucleate cells (arrowheads; Figure S3), multiple invaginations in the plasma membranes, and internal polar bodies (arrow).

(E–G) Time-lapse photography of wild-type and hemicentin-deficient embryos in Movie S1 and Movie S2 during the first 3 days of development. Wild-type embryos have external polar bodies and develop to the four-cell stage (E; Movie S1). In contrast, hemicentin-1-deficient embryos develop membrane invaginations (arrows) and internal polar bodies (arrowhead), but membrane invaginations do not proceed to completion and often retract (F and G; Movie S2).