Figure 3.

Culturing embryos on substrates with different mechanical properties. (A) Schematic of the possible force distribution and resulting deformation of the ZP when in contact with a stiff polystyrene (3 GPa) (left) and a soft Collagen I (1 kPa) substrate (right). F_ZX is defined as the net force operating on the ZP because of the extra-embryonic environment; F_BZ indicates the net force acting on the blastomeres and caused by the ZP. Adapted from Kolahi et al. (2012). (B) A schematic illustrating the 3D hydrogel culture systems for bovine embryos post-hatching, including the alginate encapsulation culture system (AECS), the alginate overlay culture system (AOCS) and the polystyrene control. CR1aa, Charles Rosenkrans medium + amino acids; FBS, fetal bovine serum. Reprinted with permissions from Zhao et al. (2015).