FBS Colloquia No.287Laboratory for embryogenesis

Analysis of regulatory mechanism of YAP during epiblast formation process in the pre-implantation mouse embryo

Pre-implantation mouse embryos form blastocysts consisting of three types of cells through two-step cell differentiation. The first step is differentiation of the inner cell mass (ICM) and the trophectoderm (TE). The second step is differentiation of the ICM into the epiblast and primitive endoderm (PrE). Hippo signal play important roles in the both differentiation steps, but the regulations differ between these steps. During formation of the ICM, the Hippo signal is active and YAP stays in the cytoplasm. During formation of the epiblast, however, the Hippo signal is inactivated, and YAP gradually translocates to the nuclei. The mechanisms which cause the changes in regulation of Hippo signal/YAP in the ICM/epiblast remain unknown. In this colloquium, I introduce the latest findings on the mechanisms that regulate the changes in YAP localization required for epiblast formation in the mouse preimplantation embryo.