Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: The pre-implantation embryo has two distinct cell lineages at the blastocyst stage. An outer epithelial monolayer called trophectoderm and the non-polar inner cell mass. Tight junctions (TJ) form continuous intercellular contacts between neighbouring trophectoderm cells and are crucial in establishing a blastocoele cavity. TJs are composed of several transmembrane proteins including Claudins, a large family of proteins that play a central role in the formation of...

Globally, malnutrition is the single greatest threat to public health. Maternal malnutrition during pregnancy is detrimental to foetal development and increases the risk of many chronic diseases in later life. Neurological consequences include increased risk of schizophrenia and abnormal anxiety-related behaviour. Previous studies have shown that maternal protein restriction has a negative effect on foetal brain development in vivo and we previously showed an effect o...