Steffen Israel

A novel and critical role of the intracellular Zona Pellucida protein 2 (ZP2) for blastocyst formation in mice

This study shows that ZP2, a zona pellucida protein, is re-synthesized and functionally required in mouse embryos, playing an active role in blastocyst formation and cell lineage development.

First cleavage is a manifestation of the geometry of the unfertilized oocyte: implications for monozygotic twinning in mice.

The paper shows that the orientation of the first cleavage in mouse oocytes follows the shorter diameter of the unfertilized oocyte, leading to segregation of animal and vegetal hemispheres and explaining differences in monozygotic twins.

Intracellular fraction of zona pellucida protein 3 is required for the oocyte to embryo transition in mice

This study identifies a novel intracellular function of zona pellucida proteins in mice, showing they are critical for embryonic cell survival during the oocyte-to-embryo transition.

An integrated genome-wide multi-omics analysis of gene expression dynamics in the preimplantation mouse embryo

The paper integrates multi-omics data to analyze gene expression dynamics in mouse embryos, revealing discrepancies between transcript and protein levels during early development.