Scientists have discovered a way to stop the growth of human embryos in a possible medical breakthrough.
The team found that by reducing activity, in particular a certain chain of biological reactions involved in fetal growth, were able to temporarily halt the implantation of a fertilized embryo into the uterine wall until conditions were optimal.
By slowing the production of a protein related to fetal growth, they were able to temporarily stop the growth of the fertilized embryo at its earliest stage, about a week after conception.
The researchers managed to keep the embryos in this dormant state for 18 days, after which they reversed the pause to resume normal growth.
The researchers said the technique could be used to increase the success of IVF by creating a larger time window to assess the health of the embryo and improve the chances of implantation in the uterus.
Researchers have shown that decreased activity of the mTOR signaling pathway places stem and blastoid cells into a diapause-like dormant state.
More than 130 species of mammals (from bears to mice) have the ability to temporarily stops the development of the embryo in a process called embryonic diapause.
It usually occurs during the blastocyst stage, when a fertilized egg rapidly divides into a ball of cells called a blastocyst. This early phase of development begins approximately five or six days after fertilization.
A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Berlin and the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna has discovered a way to artificially trigger a diapause-like state in human stem cells and blastoids, which are blastocysts. grown in laboratory.
In both stem cells and blastoids, the researchers altered the activity of a particular chain of reactions, also known as a molecular cascade.
A molecular cascade is when the movement of one molecule triggers the movement of another, and so on. This starts a series of cascading chemical reactions.
It works similar to a row of falling dominoes, where each falling domino causes the next to fall.
The pathway the researchers targeted is called the mTOR signaling pathway. It regulates cell metabolism, growth, proliferation and survival, and also plays an important role in fetal growth and development.
Study findings could improve the effectiveness of reproductive health treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF)
When the researchers inhibited the mTOR signaling pathway, the stem cells and blastoids entered a dormant state similar to diapause.
The study’s findings show that the ability to enter torpor is active in human cells around the blastocyst stage, the researchers wrote in their report.
Furthermore, they discovered that they could reverse this AFTER HOW LONG, allowing the blastoids to resume normal development.
And when they improved the activity of the mTOR pathway, they found that embryonic development accelerated.
They published their study this month in the journal. Cell.
This research has discovered a new way to control the growth of human pregnancies.
“Although we have lost the ability to enter torpor naturally, these experiments suggest that we have nonetheless retained this internal ability and could eventually release it,” said study co-author Nicolas Rivron of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology ( IMBA) of the Austrian Academy. of Sciences of Vienna, in a statement.
Learning how to harness this hidden ability within our cells could have important implications for reproductive health treatments like IVF.
“On the one hand, faster development is known to increase the success rate of in vitro fertilization, and improving mTOR activity could achieve this,” Rivron explained.
“On the other hand, triggering a dormant state during an IVF procedure could provide a broader window of time to evaluate the health of the embryo and synchronize it with the mother for better implantation inside the uterus,” he added.
More research will be needed to refine our ability to control this mechanism and safely induce diapause during IVF, but researchers are optimistic that this work could lead to advances in reproductive health treatments.