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MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES OF THE TROPHOBLAST SURFACE AT IMPLANTATION IN THE MOUSE

The mouse blastocyst is surrounded by the uterine secretion for about 24 hr before it implants in the uterine mucosa. The implantation seems to be initiated by oestrogen (Humphrey, 1967) and is associated with changes in the ultrastructure of the uterine epithelium (Potts & Psychoyos, 1967; Reinius, 1967). By using the technique of experimentally delayed implantation, both the blastocyst and the uterine epithelium can be kept in a pre-implantation state.

Transmission electron microscopy of rat blastocysts in pre-implantation and implantation states following the induction of delayed implantation indicates that the trophoblast surface changes from villous to smooth at implantation (Mayer, Nilsson & Reinius, 1967). This finding makes it likely that the surface properties of the trophoblast cells change when implantation is induced and that the ultrastructure of the trophoblast surface can be a useful indicator of the functional state of the tissue as a whole.

Evaluation of the appearance