Profiling gene expression in growth-arrested mouse embryos in diapause

摘要

In many mammalian species, embryonic cell proliferation can be reversibly arrested in an embryonic diapause at the time of embryo implantation. A recent report has identified changes in embryonic gene expression that are associated with, and may halt,embryonic cell proliferation.We are all accustomed to the fact that most successful human pregnancies last approximately nine and a half months. But in some 100 mammalian species, the duration of pregnancy can vary among individuals within the same species, and even between pregnancies in a single individual.