ABSTRACT
In mice and rats, the egg is surrounded by a mucoprotein coat, the zona pellucida, which is lost shortly before implantation. The mechanism of loss has long been a matter of controversy. In rats, loss of the zona has variously been reported to be by lysis (Defrise, 1933; Dickson, 1963) or by an active hatching mechanism (Dickmann & Noyes, 1961). A similar lack of unanimity is encountered in discussions on the mechanism of loss of the mouse zona pellucida in utero, though, under conditions of in vitro culture, the hatching of blastocysts from the zona has been not only observed, but even filmed (Cole & Paul, 1965; Cole, 1967).
Copyright © 1970 by Company of Biologists
1970
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