Stéphane Berneau

University of Central Lancashire | UCLAN · School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Science

Study question: Does embryo transfer medium containing hyaluronate (HA) promote the attachment phase of human embryo implantation? Summary answer: HA-containing medium does not promote human blastocyst attachment to endometrial epithelial cells in vitro. What is known already: Embryo transfer media containing high concentrations of HA are bein...

Background: Many studies have demonstrated that lifestyle factors can affect sperm quality and fertility. Sperm Telomere Length (STL) has been reported as potential biomarker or sperm quality. However, no studies have investigated the how lifestyle factors can effect STL and associated clinical outcomes. Objectives: The purpose of this manuscrip...

At the onset of pregnancy, embryo implantation is initiated by interactions between the endometrial epithelium and the outer trophectoderm cells of the blastocyst. Osteopontin (OPN) is expressed in the endometrium and is implicated in attachment and signalling roles at the embryo–epithelium interface. We have characterised OPN in the human endometr...

Implantation failure is an important impediment to increasing success rates in assisted reproductive technologies. Knowledge of the cascade of morphological and molecular events at implantation remains limited. Cell surface CD44 and hyaluronate (HA) have been reported in the uterus, but a role in intercellular interaction at implantation remains to...

In vitro culture during assisted reproduction technologies (ART) exposes pre-implantation embryos to environmental stressors, such as non-physiological nutritional, oxidative and osmotic conditions. The effects on subsequent implantation are not well understood but could contribute to poor ART efficiency and outcomes. We have used exposure to hyper...

Initial human embryo development is directed by the cellular process of mitosis. This succession of mitotic divisions is first regulated by maternal transcripts and proteins until the zygote genome activation occurs between 8‐ and 16‐cell stages. The activation of the genome increases embryonic protein synthesis and is likely responsible for furthe...

Introduction Failure of trophoblast invasion and remodelling of maternal blood vessels leads to the pregnancy complication pre-eclampsia (PE). In other systems, the sphingolipid, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), controls cell migration therefore this study determined its effect on extravillous trophoblast (EVT) function. Methods A transwell migratio...

Study question: How do interactions between blastocyst-stage embryos and endometrial epithelial cells regulate the early stages of implantation in an in vitro model? Summary answer: Mouse blastocyst apposition with human endometrial epithelial cells initiates trophectoderm differentiation to trophoblast, which goes on to breach the endometrial e...

Haploid gametes are generated through two consecutive meiotic divisions, with the segregation of chromosome pairs in meiosis I and sister chromatids in meiosis II. Separase-mediated stepwise removal of cohesion, first from chromosome arms and later from the centromere region, is a prerequisite for maintaining sister chromatids together until their...