Novel Methods For Capturing Embryo-Uterine Interactions During Implantation

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editors

Ripla Arora

Michigan State University, Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology

Dr. Ripla Arora received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Delhi, India. She went on to receive her PhD degree in Genetics and Development from Columbia University, New York where she studied the role of T-box transcription factors in vascular morphogenesis of the allantois (umbilical precursor) and epithelial branching in the lung. She completed her postdoctoral work in the Department of Obstetrics Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at University of California, San Francisco where she worked on sex differentiation of the bipotential gonad and studied spatial aspects of meiosis in the embryonic ovary. Motivated by the importance of spatial analysis in tissues she went on to develop a novel technique for 3D imaging and quantitative modeling of the mouse uterus during preimplantation stages and the cycling human endometrium. Dr. Arora is now an Assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology within the College of Human Medicine and a member of the Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on uterine development and embryo-uterine interactions key to embryo implantation and pregnancy success. She uses confocal imaging in combination with 3D shape analysis to identify and quantify dynamic changes to the luminal and glandular structure of murine uterus in preparation for implantation. When applied to mouse mutants with known implantation defects, her lab has discovered striking peri-implantation abnormalities in uterine morphology that cannot be visualized by histology. With a focus on embryo-uterine interactions necessary for successful implantation, her lab recently uncovered precise embryo movement patterns and changes in uterine luminal folding during the peri-implantation period using the mouse model. Dr. Arora was recently selected as a recipient of the March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award. Her research has implications for understanding how structure-based embryo-uterine communication is key to determining an optimal implantation site, which is necessary for the success of a pregnancy.

Manoj Madhavan

Michigan State University, Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Manoj Madhavan graduated with a BTech in Biotechnology from Anna University, India. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Michigan State University. His graduate research focusses on studying the role of uterine folding in embryo implantation during early pregnancy using 3D imaging, 3D reconstruction and gene expression analysis. His research interests lie in the fields of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, developmental biology, microscopy, and imaging.

Collection Overview

Aberrant implantation is one of the leading causes of miscarriage and infertility in women, but its underlying reasons remain poorly understood. Implantation involves a series of highly coordinated interactions between the embryo and the maternal environment and is crucial for embryo morphogenesis. There is a great deal of research on embryo development during pre-implantation period (until blastocyst stage) due to the ability to culture embryos ex vivo without needing the maternal environment. However, morphogenesis of the embryo during and soon after implantation continues to be an enigmatic process. While there has been progress in understanding molecular mechanisms underlying implantation, the structural aspects of this process remain elusive. This is primarily due to technical limitations associated with capturing this event in vivo. Researchers have co-cultured embryos with different endometrial cell types to model implantation in vitro, however, a model that recapitulates the complex uterine environment is lacking. With advent of new methodologies such as endometrial organoids, blastocyst organoids (blastoids) and endometrium-on-a-chip technology combined with recent advances in the field of microscopy and imaging, we are inching closer towards deciphering the mysterious process of implantation. The aim of this methods collection is to provide in-depth procedures for novel techniques available in the field of developmental and reproductive biology for culturing peri-implantation stage embryos and/or endometrial tissue. The ultimate goal of this collection is to enable new approaches to model the growth of the implantation stage embryo along with the endometrium and to get a more holistic understanding of the process of implantation.