The role of paf in embryo physiology

Embryo-derived paf (1-o-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-gylcero-3-phosphocholine) is produced by de novo synthesis. This syn-thesis commences soon after fertilization and persists throughout the preimplantation phase. Paf is produced and released by the embryos of all mammalian species studied to date. Its release from the embryo involves binding to extracellular albumin in a manner that protects paf from enzymatic degradation. Released paf causes a range of alterations in maternal physiology, including platelet activation, changes in oviducal, endometrial and maternal immune function. Paf also acts in an autocrine fashion as a trophic/survival factor for the early embryo. In vitro, supplementation of culture media with paf improves embryo development. Embryo-derived paf’s autocrine actions are transduced by 1-o-phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase, which induces characteristic calcium transients within the early embryo. The calcium transients require both the influx of external calcium and release of inositol trisphosphate-dependent internal calcium stores. Buffering these transients compromised embryo development in a manner that was reversed by exogenous paf. Assisted reproductive technologies compromise the production of paf by some embryos and retard the expression of the paf receptor. This deprivation of paf’s action is one of the fac-tors limiting the survivability of embryos produced by assisted reproductive technologies. Paf is one of several autocrine and paracrine trophic/survival factors that act on the early embryo. These factors probably act coopera-tively and may, to some degree, be mutually redundant. As the earliest-released and the best-described embryo-trophin, paf provides an important exemplar for understanding the role of ligand-mediated trophic support of the early embryo. Key words: paf/zygote/blastocyst/embryo/fertilization in vitro/signal transductio