Diagnosing sphingolipidoses in murine and human embryos

Michal Epstein, Yael Avital, Vered Agmon, Tama Dinur, Eitan Fibach, Shimon Gatt, Neri Laufer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

The aim of this study was to diagnose lipid storage diseases in embryos at the preimplantation stage. Two parallel approaches were employed. Firstly, activities of several sphingolipid hydrolases were determined in extracts of murine embryos and also human oocytes and polyspermic embryos. Sensitive fluorescent or fluorogenic procedures provided indications that Tay - Sachs, Gaucher and Krabbe diseases might be diagnosed in one human blastomere, while for Niemann - Pick disease two might be required. Secondly, pyrene lipids were administered into murine embryos and their fluorescence was quantified by computerized imaging microscopy. As a model of Gaucher disease, the fluorescent substrate pyrene glucosylceramide was administered into murine embryos in the presence or absence of an inhibitor of the enzyme β-glucosidase. Because of decreased degradation of the substrate in enzyme-inhibited cells, the fluorescence per blastomere was considerably greater relative to those which received no inhibitor. The results indicated that lipid storage diseases might be diagnosed in single human blastomeres at the preimplantation stage, obviating the need for pre-natal diagnosis and abortion of affected foetuses.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)302-309
Number of pages8
JournalHuman Reproduction
Volume8
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1993
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Fluorescent substrate
  • Lipid storage disease
  • Preimplantation diagnosis

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