Figure 6.

Hippo effectors and molecular intermediates of pluripotency are altered in the absence of AhR

(A) Levels of pYAP were quantified from immunofluorescence and are presented as the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI).

(B–H) Levels of nuclear YAP in morulae and blastocysts from AhR^+/+ and AhR^−/− mice were quantified by immunofluorescence and are presented as the MFI (B). AhR^+/+ and AhR^−/− embryos at the indicated developmental stages were used to purify embryo mRNA (C–F and H) or mRNA from TE and ICM fractions (G) that were separated by MACS as indicated in experimental procedures. The expression of Lats1 (C), Lats2 (D), β-catenin (E), Cdx2 (F and G), and Gata3 (H) was quantified by qRT-PCR. Expression levels were normalized by β-actin and are represented as 2^−ΔΔCt.

^∗p < 0.05; ^∗∗p < 0.01; ^∗∗∗p < 0.001. Data are shown as mean ± SD. The experiments were performed at least three times, and number of embryos analyzed is indicated on the x axis.