The expression and role of Tmed2/TMED2 during the development of the murine embryo and placenta

Normal development of the placenta is crucial for embryonic survival and growth. Tmed2 is a gene, which has been found to be necessary for the formation of the labyrinth layer of the placenta, as well as for embryonic development. The objectives of this thesis are to: describe the transcripts of Tmed2 using Northern Blot analysis; elucidate the expression pattern of Tmed2 in the developing embryo and placenta using whole mount and section in situ hybridization; determine whether homozygous mutant embryos (Tmed2 99J/99J) are undergoing ER stress using RT-PCR. Tmed2 has three transcripts; however, only one of these transcripts contains exon 1 of the gene. Tmed2 is expressed during the development of the embryo and placenta in those tissues that are affected in the Tmed299J/99J mutants. Finally, Tmed2 homozygous mutant embryos are not experiencing ER stress. Tmed2 is probably required for the trafficking of an important protein(s) during development.