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. 2013 Aug 1;4:2251. doi: 10.1038/ncomms3251

Figure 3. Co-depletion of motin family members enhance ICM differentiation.

Figure 3

(a) The motin family proteins with key regions outlined. (b) Total cell number and ICM cell number are not significantly different between control (N=21), Amot-RNAi (N=31) and Amot; Amotl1; Amotl2-RNAi (N=12) blastocysts. However, in the triple motin-RNAi embryos, 98.0±1% of ICM cells of the triple RNAi embryos were Cdx2 positive at the blastocyst stage (N=210 cells, 12 embryos) compared with the 61.8±5% of Amot-RNAi (N=434 cells, 30 embryos) and 5.0±2% of control embryos (N=311 cells, 21 embryos). Error bars represent s.e.m. Student’s t-test was used to test significance. (c) qRT–PCR of whole embryos, comparing expression levels of Amot and Amotl2 in control embryos (N=21) and triple knockdown embryos (N=21). Amot and Amotl2 were downregulated to 21.6±3% and 19.6±3%, respectively, relative to control levels. Amotl1 expression could not be detected. Error bars represent s.e.m. Student’s t-test was used to test significance. (d) Z-section series of immunofluorescent confocal images of control, Amot-RNAi (N=30) and Amot; Amotl1; Amotl2-RNAi (N=12) blastocysts, with the highest proportion of Cdx2-expressing cells in the triple knockdown. Dotted lines outline the ICM. Scale bar,: 10 μm.