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Human Reproduction, Vol. 17, No. 6, 1584-1590, June 2002
© 2002 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Caspase activity in preimplantation human embryos is not associated with apoptosis

Francisco Martinez1, Laura Rienzi2, Marcello Iacobelli2, Filippo Ubaldi2, Carmen Mendoza1,3, Ermanno Greco2 and Jan Tesarik3,4

1 University of Granada, Campus Universitario Fuentenueva, Granada, Spain, 2 European Hospital, Rome, Italy and 3 MAR&Gen, Molecular Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Granada, Spain

BACKGROUND: Previous studies on mammalian preimplantation embryos have suggested an association between caspase activation, blastomere fragmentation and apoptosis. However, some reports on human embryos questioned the causal relationship between blastomere fragmentation and apoptosis, and information about the presence and activity of caspases in human embryos is lacking. METHODS: A fluorochrome-labelled universal caspase inhibitor was used to visualize active caspases in blastomeres and fragments of preimplantation human embryos. RESULTS: Caspase activity was detected only after fertilization, and was rare in blastomeres but frequent in fragments. The incidence of caspase activity in blastomeres and fragments was stable between the 2-cell and 12-cell stages. Caspase-positive blastomeres were only seen in poor-morphology embryos. The percentage of caspase-positive fragments was increased in embryos with multinucleated blastomeres but was unrelated to embryo morphology. Moreover, caspase-positive fragments detached from healthy blastomeres that were isolated by embryo biopsy and subsequently underwent mitotic division in culture. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that caspases in preimplantation human embryos are involved in developmental processes unrelated to cell death.

Key words: apoptosis/blastomere multinucleation/caspase/ploidy/preimplantation embryo

4 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: MAR&Gen, Molecular Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Gracia 36, 18002 Granada, Spain. E-mail: cmendoza{at}ugr.es


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