Developmental fate and lineage commitment of singled mouse blastomeres

The inside-outside model has been invoked to explain cell-fate specification of the pre-implantation mammalian embryo. Here, we investigate whether cell-cell interaction can influence the fate specification of embryonic blastomeres by sequentially separating the blastomeres in two-cell stage mouse embryos and continuing separation after each cell division throughout pre-implantation development. This procedure eliminates information provided by cell-cell interaction and cell positioning. Gene expression profiles, polarity protein localization and functional tests of these separated blastomeres reveal that cell interactions, through cell position, influence the fate of the blastomere. Blastomeres, in the absence of cell contact and inner-outer positional information, have a unique pattern of gene expression that is characteristic of neither inner cell mass nor trophectoderm, but overall they have a tendency towards a 'trophectoderm-like' gene expression pattern and preferentially contribute to the trophectoderm lineage.