Altered transcriptome in pregnancies initiated by the transfer of an in vitro produced embryo.

Pregnancy loss is a significant problem when embryos produced in vitro are transferred to a synchronized uterus. Currently, mechanisms that underly losses of in vitro produced embryos during implantation are largely unknown. We investigated this problem using cattle (Bos taurus) as a biomedical model of conceptus attachment by analyzing transcriptome data of paired extraembryonic membrane and endometrial samples collected on gestation days 18 and 25, which spans the attachment window in cattle. Pregnancies were initiated by either artificial insemination or the transfer of an embryo proced in vitro, then interrupted on either gestation day 18 or 25 for the collection of samples from the endometrium and conceptus.