Figure 8

Distribution of CDX2 during the early stages of bovine development. (a) presents the specific changes in the CDX2 protein distribution from the 5-cell stage. Initially CDX2 was located in the cytoplasm of all cells and was absent in the nuclei. From 8-cell onwards CDX2 specifically allocated to the embryonic cell nuclei and became TE specific at the blastocyst stage. (b) shows a single optical section through the early stage blastocyst (7/8dpi) already presented in Figure 5a. At this stage CDX2 immunostaining was detected in the TE with some residual staining still visible in the ICM (highlighted by the dashed circle). DAPI marks chromatin. Confocal sections were taken every 3 μm.