Embryology - Basic Body Plan Flashcards
Week 1 landmark events
Fertilization, cleavage, blastocyst formation, implantation
Fertilization
Sperm swim through uterus and oviduct to meet the mature oocyte or ovum in the ampulla. Oocyte finishes second meiotic division and female pronucleus forms as sperm enters. Head of the sperm swells to become the male pronucleus. Diploid cell (zygote) forms.
Cleavage
Mitotic division without growth that begins as the zygote moves through the oviduct towards the uterus.
Blastomeres
Cells of the cleaving embryo, totipotent until the 4-8 cell stage (can give rise to both the embryo and fetal part of the placenta) (day 1-3)
Morula
16 cell stage, as cells divide they compact and secrete fluid to form a cavity (day 3)
Blastocyst
Embryo following cavity formation from morula, arrives in the uterine cavity 4-5 days after fertilization
Implantation
Blastocyst attaches and invades uterine wall on day 6, but continues during week 2
Blastomere cell types following implantation
Embryoblast and trophoblast
Embryoblast
Inner cell mass, form the embryo and are pluripotent stem cells
Trophoblast
Outer cell mass, surround the embryoblast and blastocyst cavity and will form the fetal part of the placenta
Week 2
Embryoblast and trophoblast each differentiate into 2 layers and 2 cavities form
Layers of embryoblast (bilaminar embryo)
Epiblast and hypoblast
Epiblast
Columnar cells that secrete fluid to form the amniotic cavity
Hypoblast
Cuboidal cells that line the blastocyst cavity to form the primitive yolk sac
Trophoblast layers
Syncytiotrophoblast and cytotrophoblast
Syncytotrophoblast
Outer layer, one cytoplasm with many nuclei, a syncytium
Cytotrophoblast
Inner layer, actively proliferating cells
Day 12
Blastocyst is completely embedded in uterine wall, lacunae (spaces in syncytotrophoblast) connect to maternal capillaries in uterine wall to establish placental blood supply. Hypoblast cells of primitive yolk sac proliferate to form extraembryonic mesoderm, where spaces start to form
Extraembryonic mesoderm
Loose connective tissue from proliferation of hypoblast cells of the primitive yolk sac
Day 13
Spaces in extraembryonic mesoderm coalesce and form the chorionic cavity, where the bilaminar embryo is now suspended by the connecting stalk. The primitive yolk sac is now called the secondary yolk sac, and chorion forms
Chorionic cavity
Formed by the coalescence of the spaces in the extraembryonic mesoderm
Connecting stalk
What suspends the bilaminar embryo in the chorionic cavity and is made of extraembryonic mesoderm
Secondary yolk sac
Primitive yolk sac turns into this following the suspension in the chorionic cavity
Chorion
Outer layer of the extraembryonic mesoderm and the trophoblast
Dizygotic twins
Arise from two oocytes fertilized by two sperm, two zygotes are genetically distinct, implant separately, have separate placentas, amnions, chorions