{
  "abstract": "The blastocyst formation rate of human embryos cultured in vitro for assisted reproduction is approximately 50%, with most embryos arresting at the cleavage stage; however, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing of biopsied blastomeres from morphologically high-quality 8-cell embryos and tracked the developmental progression of the remaining embryos to the blastocyst stage. Embryos that failed to form blastocysts exhibited impaired zygotic genome activation (ZGA). We identified OVOL1/2 as critical ZGA genes that were markedly underactivated in these embryos. Functional analyses in both mouse and human embryos demonstrate that depletion of OVOL1/2 disrupts trophectoderm differentiation via ARPC1B-dependent mechanisms, thereby impairing the morula-to-blastocyst transition. Collectively, these findings provide mechanistic insights into preimplantation embryonic development and reveal potential causes of blastocyst formation failure.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 12,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Yi Zhu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Xueqin Chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Xin Deng"
    },
    {
      "name": "Shuoping Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jue Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Fei Meng"
    },
    {
      "name": "Qinwei Zhou"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yifan Gu",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7669-5046"
    },
    {
      "name": "Fei Gong"
    },
    {
      "name": "Guangxiu Lu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ge Lin",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3877-2546"
    },
    {
      "name": "Lizhi Leng",
      "orcid": "0009-0000-1524-7776"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8nmt0b5f6yd3y.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s42003-026-11168-x",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13720067",
  "id": "8nmt0b5f6yd3y",
  "issns": [
    "2399-3642"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-11168-x",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Article"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-11168-x.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13720067",
  "pmid": "42957758",
  "published": "2026-10-29",
  "publisher": "Springer Science and Business Media LLC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8nmt0b5f6yd3y.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:50Z",
      "native_id": "10.1038/s42003-026-11168-x",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-11168-x"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-01T00:20:36Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42957758",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42957758"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-02T12:23:55Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13720067",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-11168-x"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "issn:2399-3642",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "OVOL1/2 regulate trophectoderm differentiation during the morula-to-blastocyst transition",
  "title_text": "OVOL1/2 regulate trophectoderm differentiation during the morula-to-blastocyst transition",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-03T12:21:01Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8nmt0b5f6yd3y",
  "venue": "Communications Biology",
  "versions": []
}