Embryonic and Postnatal Development in BALB/c Mice

BALB/c embryos and postnatal mice were used in the study. The examined embryonic and postnatal stages were E10.5, E12, E13, E14, E15, E16, E17 and E18 after gestation and postnatal days 0 (PN0), PN1, PN2, PN3, PN4, PN5, PN10 and PN20. Adult BALB/c mice were obtained from Charles River Japan Inc. (Yokohama, Japan). All experimental procedures using mice were approved by the Animal Care and Use Review Committee, Kyushu University (Fukuoka, Japan) and performed according to the guidelines of the committee. After allowing 12 hr for the mating of 10–20 week-old-female and adult male BALB/c mice, the presence of successful insemination was determined based on the presence of a post-copulatory plug in the vagina, and this time point was defined as E0.5 [14] (link), [16] (link), [17] (link).