EXAMINING HYPOBLAST FORMATION AND FUNCTION TO REDUCE EARLY EMBRYONIC LOSS IN CATTLE

The overall goal of this project is to better understand early embryonic loss in cattle. More than half of pregnancies are lost during the first month of development. This is also during the time where essential developmental milestones occur in the developing embryo.The major goal of this project is to elucidate the mechanisms of interleukin-6 (IL6)behind hypoblast proliferation and function in developing cattle embryos. Understanding the mechanisms of IL6 and the hypoblast will help prevent embryonic loss in cattle.Objective 1: Determine if adding IL6during extended embryo culture will improve hypoblast formation and migration in bovine embryos.Objective 2: Described the necessity of IL6 signaling in the hypoblast after primitive endoderm formation by inhibiting IL6ST.