Description
Gene regulation at the maternal-embryonic transition in the pre-implantation mouse embryo is not well understood. We knock down Ccna2 to establish proof-of-concept that antisense morpholino oligonucleotides can be used to target specific genes. We applied this strategy to study Oct4 and discovered that Oct4 is required prior to blastocyst development. Specifically, gene expression is altered as early as the 2-cell stage in Oct4-knockdown embryos.