The implantation chamber,blastocyst and blastocyst imprint of the rat: A scanning electron microscope study

Splitting the uterus longitudinally through implantation sites makes it possible to obtain access to blastocysts and implantation chambers during stages of implantation of the blastocyst in the rat. On the afternoon of day 5 of pregnancy, blastocysts lie in a shallow antimesometrial depression and tend to fall free of the uterus when the chamber is opened. On day 6, blastocysts are oriented in a mesometrial-antimesometrial plane, occupy a distinct implantation chamber, and tend to adhere to one side or the other of the uterus, leaving an imprint on the contralateral side. After about noon of day 6, some of the blastocysts split in half laterally, and by day 7 all blastocysts which are exposed are split. In addition to demonstrating increased adhesion of blastocyst to uterine epithelium, the procedure clearly shows the progressive elongation of the implantation chamber. The embryonic cell mass is specifically oriented on day 6, and is clasped but not distorted, whereas the abembryonic trophoblast is slightly compressed and indented by the uterine epithelium. The microvilli of the uterine epithelium within the imprint become progressively flattened when compared to the microvilli of the implantation chamber outside of the imprint. The method provides a means of gaining direct access to the surface of uterine epithelium precisely where it has been in association with the blastocyst not only for scanning electron microscopy but also for studies of the properties of the surface constituents.