The absence of the copulatory plug disrupts pregnancy in mice Michael Lough-Stevens Matt Dean 10.6084/m9.figshare.12158733.v1 https://tagc2020.figshare.com/articles/poster/The_absence_of_the_copulatory_plug_disrupts_pregnancy_in_mice/12158733 <p>Understanding the biological reasons for implantation failure is important because</p><p>pregnancies may fail even when there are no known clinical abnormalities.</p><p>• A significant proportion of pregnancy failures may be prevented with a deeper</p><p>understanding of the molecular pathways required to initiate and maintain pregnancy.</p><p>• We used a mouse model to study pregnancy failure caused by a reproductive defect in</p><p>the ejaculate of male mice: the copulatory plug, a solid mass formed from male seminal</p><p>fluid in the female mouse’s reproductive tract (see Fig. 1).</p><p>• We investigated 1) whether implantation rates go down when females do not receive a</p><p>plug and 2) whether progesterone, which is essential for the implantation of fertilizing</p><p>eggs in mammals and is upregulated at the time of implantation, is affected by the</p><p>presence or absence of a plug.</p> 2020-04-20 20:29:55 Reproduction Developmental Biology Behavioural Ecology