Fig. 1

Changes in ICM and TE cell numbers after exposure to IL6. Blastocysts were cultured in SOF-BE1 until day 8, 9 or 10 post-fertilization, then differential cell staining was completed to discriminate ICM cells (CDX2⁻ / DAPI⁺) from TE cells (CDX2⁺ / DAPI⁺). Panel a: Total, ICM and TE cell numbers on day 8, 9 and 10 post-fertilization (n = 11–18 blastocysts/group over 3 replicate studies). Different superscripts within each panel indicate differences (P < 0.05). Panel b-c: Blastocysts were incubated with 0 or 100 ng/ml IL6 for 24 h prior to fixing and immunostaining at day 8, 9 or 10 post-fertilization (n = 11–18 blastocysts/group over 3 replicate studies). Main effects were detected for day of blastocyst development (P = 0.004) and IL6 treatment (P = 0.0003), but not day by treatment interaction was observed. The asterisks (*) indicate the increase (P < 0.05) in cell numbers within each day following IL6 treatment