Journal of International Reproductive Health/Family Planning ›› 2021, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (6): 481-485.doi: 10.12280/gjszjk.20210213

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The Major Signaling Pathways in Early Embryonic Development

CHEN Ran-ran, SONG Dian-rong()   

  1. Department of Gynecology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300150, China
  • Received:2021-05-14 Published:2021-11-15 Online:2021-11-30
  • Contact: SONG Dian-rong E-mail:songdr58@126.com

Abstract:

Embryonic development begins from the zygote. After multiple cleavages, the embryonic morphology changed, and the internal cells differentiated into the different lineages that laid the foundation for the subsequent formation of gastrula. The various signal pathways participate in the fine regulation of early embryonic development. For example, the differential activation of Hippo signal pathway leads to the differentiation of trophectoderm (TE) and inner cell mass (ICM); fibroblast growth factor/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (FGF/ERK) signaling pathway further differentiated ICM into primitive endoderm (PE) and epiblast (EPI); bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway and classic Wnt signaling pathway are not only related to the pluripotent of embryonic cells, but also play an important role in the establishment of hypocotyls; Notch signaling pathway and Nodal signaling pathway are mainly involved in the formation of left-right asymmetry of embryos. Here we review the role and regulation mechanism of the main signal pathways in early embryonic development, so as to provide reference for the in-depth understanding of the process of early embryonic development and regulation.

Key words: Embryonic development, Cell lineage, Germ layers, Signal transduction, Wnt signaling pathway