ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Embryonic Development
This article is part of the Research TopicMetabolic Pathways in Early Embryogenesis: Mechanisms and ImplicationsView all 4 articles
Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Receptor (IGF1R)-Dependent Signaling Regulates Blastocyst Formation During Early Embryonic Development
Provisionally accepted
- University of Missouri, Columbia, United States
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Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) signaling is a conserved regulator of embryonic growth and survival. However, the specific role of IGF1 signaling mediated by its cognate receptor IGF1R during mammalian preimplantation development remains unclear and unexplored. In this study, we employed both genetic ablation using cytidine deaminase base editors and pharmacological inhibition to assess the role of IGF1R in porcine early embryonic development. Embryos lacking IGF1R advanced through early cleavage divisions and progressed to blastocyst formation; however, they displayed delayed blastocyst development and significantly increased apoptosis. Lineage segregation was largely unperturbed. Exogenous IGF-1 supplementation did not ameliorate developmental impairments in IGF1R-knockout embryos and instead exacerbated apoptotic responses when receptor signaling was compromised. Collectively, these results establish that IGF1R signaling is dispensable for cell fate specification but is crucial for regulating blastocyst growth dynamics and embryonic viability.
Keywords: base editing, embryotropic factor, IGF1R, lineage specification, Pig embryos, Preimplantation development
Received: 07 Jan 2026; Accepted: 12 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Park, Jeoung, Wang and Telugu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Bhanu Telugu
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