Fig. 2

Knockdown of KRT18 impairs mouse embryo adhesion and implantation. A-C Knockdown of KRT18 with lentivirus reduced KRT18 expression at the mRNA (A) and protein levels (B) and (C). The histogram shows the quantitative analysis of western blotting (C). D Schematics of the experimental mouse embryo adhesion and in vivo implantation process. E Representative picture of embryos treated with lentivirus for 48 h. Scale bar, 20 µm. F Representative picture of embryos that adhered to a monolayer of Ishikawa cells. Scale bar, 50 µm. G The attachment rate of the mouse embryos was plotted as a histogram. *, p < 0.05. Blastocysts treated with control or siKRT18-2 lentivirus were transferred into pseudopregnant mice. Seventy-two hours after transfer, the number of implantation sites in the uteri was counted. (H) Representative picture of implantation sites in the uteri. I The number of implantation sites in the uteri with transferred embryos treated with control or siKRT18-2 lentivirus (n = 6). The data are presented as the mean ± SE. **P < 0.01