• Journal of Embryo Transfer
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.207-213
• /
• 2016

The objective of this study was to investigate to influence of glutathione (GSH) on development and antioxidant enzyme activity in tetraploid porcine embryos. Tetraploid embryos were produced using parthenogenetic 2-cell embryo by electrofusion method. Tetraploid embryo development was observed every 24 hours and intracellular antioxidant enzyme activity was measured at 120 hours after electrofusion. The 4-cell to 16-cell stage tetraploid embryos was increased in 100 and $500{\mu}M$ GSH-treated groups compared control group at 48 hours (P < 0.05) but cleavage rates were not significantly different among the GSH treatment groups at 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours. Blastocyst formation was significantly increased by 300 and $500{\mu}M$ GSH at 120 hours in tetraploid embryos (P < 0.05). But blastocyst cell number were not significantly different among the GSH treatment groups ($16.4{\pm}0.8$, $16.8{\pm}2.6$, $18.5{\pm}2.8$ and $17.5{\pm}1.8$). The intracellular antioxidant enzyme level was increased in $500{\mu}M$ GSH compared to 0 and $100{\mu}M$ GSH (P < 0.05). We suggest that GSH may be improve development of tetraploid embryo in pigs.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.61-69
• /
• 2007

This study was designed to evaluate effects of BSA, PVA, gonadotropins and follicle shell during IVM of porcine oocytes and subsequent development to the blastocyst stage after IVF. Cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were cultured in TCM-199 media containing 4 mg/ml BSA and 1 mg/ml PVA during IVM for 44 hr. To compare the effect of gonadotropins on oocyte maturation, COCs were cultured with FSH+LH, FSH, LH and FSH-LH-free media during IVM. respectively. Also, different number of follicle shells (0, 2, 4 and 6) was used to examine whether the presence of follicle shell in culture medium affects oocyte maturation. The percentages of fertilization and blastocyst formation, respectively, were higher in the medium containing the PVA (49.0 and 17.9%) than those containing the BSA (40.0 and 12.2%). Significantly higher rates of Mil oocytes were in the presence of FSH+LH and FSH (88.6 and 85.1 %) compared to other treatments (64.0 and 53.4% at LH and FSH-LH-free media). Co-culture with inverted follicle shells in 2 ml maturation medium enhanced the developmental competence of porcine oocytes. In conclusion, PVA could be used as a macromolecules instead of BSA, and FSH and follicle shell played important roles in maturation of porcine oocytes.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.123-129
• /
• 2019

Many transcription factors are involved in directing the growth of porcine oocytes. The localization and expression level of a given transcription factor often differ at each stage of early embryonic growth, which spans from fertilization to the formation of the blastocyst. A hallmark of the blastocyst stage is the separation of the endodermal and mesodermal ectoderm. The embryo's medium and its effects are known to be crucial during early development compared to the other developmental stages, and thus require a lot of caution. Therefore, in many experiments, early development is divided into the quality of oocyte and cumulus cells and used in experiments. We thought that we were also heavily influenced by genetic reasons. Here, we examined the expression patterns of five key transcription factors (CDX2, OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, and E-CADHERIN) during porcine oocyte development whose expression patterns are controversial in the pig to the literature. Antibodies against these transcription factors were used to determine the expression and localization of them during the early development of pig embryos. These results indicate that the expressions of key transcription factors are generally similar in mouse and pig early developing embryos, but NANOG and SOX2 expression appears to show speciesspecific differences between pig and mouse developing embryos. This work helps us better understand how the expression patterns of transcription factors translate into developmental effects and processes, and how the expression and localization of different transcription factors can crucially impact oocyte growth and downstream developmental processes.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.68-74
• /
• 2014

Objective: In search of an ideal method of assisted hatching (AH), we compared the effects of conventional micropipette-AH and laser-AH on the blastocyst formation rate (BFR) and blastocyst cell numbers. Methods: Four-to five-week-old ICR female mice were paired with male mice after superovulation using Pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and hCG. The two-cell embryos were flushed from the oviducts of female mice. The retrieved two-cell embryos underwent one of five AH procedures: single mechanical assisted hatching (sMAH); cross mechanical assisted hatching (cMAH); single laser assisted hatching (sLAH); quarter laser assisted hatching (qLAH); and quarter laser zona thinning assisted hatching (qLZT-AH). After 72 hours incubation, double immunofluorescence staining was performed. Results: Following a 72 hours incubation, a higher hatching BFR was observed in the control, sMAH, cMAH, and sLAH groups, compared to those in the qLAH and qLZT-AH groups (p<0.05). The hatched BFR was significantly higher in the qLAH and qLZT-AH groups than in the others (p<0.05 for each group). The inner cell mass (ICM) was higher in the control and sMAH group (p<0.05). The trophectoderm cell number was higher in the cMAH and qLAH groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our results showed that the hatched BFR was higher in groups exposed the the qLAH and qLZT-AH methods compared to groups exposed to other AH methods. In the qLAH group, although the total cell number was significantly higher than in controls, the ICM ratio was significantly lower in than controls.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.168-173
• /
• 2004

The ability of frozen-thawed fetal skin was examined to generate viable cell lines for nuclear transfer. Fetal skin frozen at -20$-20^{\circ}C$, $-30^{\circ}C$ or $-80^{\circ}C$ in the presence of 5% DMSO used as tissue explants to generate somatic cells. The resultant confluent cells were then used as donors for nuclear transfer (NT). Of the bovine NT embryos reconstracted from the somatic cells, 62.3%, 76.6% to 65% showed cleavage 70.5%, 81.9% to 78.5% reached the stage of morula formation and 39.7%, 43.2% or 47.6% reached the blastocyst stage. There was no significant difference in development when the NT embryos were compared with those reconstracted from fresh somatic cell derieved skin tissues (72%, 75.3%, and 45.2%, for cleavage, and development to morula and blastocyst stage, respectively). NT embryos were then placed in a portable $CO_2$ incubator and carried to China from Japan by air. After reaching to farm, two NT embryos were transferred to each of 5 recipients. We obtained 2 NT calves which birth weights is 30kg and 36kg female, and gestation periods is 281 and 284 days, respectively. There were no observation any abnormality from those calves. The results indicated that cell lines derieved from bovine fetal skin cryopreserved by a simple method could be used as donors in nuclear transfer using the portable $CO_2$ incubator.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.191-196
• /
• 2000

the present study was carried out to develop a completely defined culture system and determine if high NaCl concentrations in defined (PVA added) or semi-defined (BSA added) medium is toxic to bovine embryos. Oocytes from slaughterhouse ovaries were matured and fertilized in vitro. After 30 h of insemination, only 2-cell stage embryos were selected and cultured for this experiment. The culture media used were as follows : TLP(114 mM of NaCl) + BSA (3 mg/ml), TLP + PVA (1 mg/ml), mTLP(96 mM of NaCl) + BSA, mTLP + PVA. Six to ten embryos were placed into a 30$\mu$1 drop of each medium and the embryos were examined at 10 day post-insemination without medium renewal. The experiment was replicated 4 times. All data were analyzed by chi-square. There were no significant differences among TLP-BSA, mTLP-BSA and mTLP-PVA in blastocyst development (21.6, 17.2 and 20.2%), respectively. Also, no differences were obtained in hatching rates (11.7, 9.9 and 12.2%), respecitively. However, there were significant differences between TLP-PVA (1.7% and 0.6%) and other group in blastocyst formation and hatching rates, respectively (p<0.01). Development of in vitro produced embryos cultured in BSA containing medium was not affected by high NaCl concentration, but in the completely defined medium, embryonic development was highly affected by NaCl. This study shows that reduced NaCl concentration in completely defined medium is beneficial for development of bovine pre-implantation embryos in vitro.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.183-191
• /
• 2008

This study was conducted to investigate the development and gene expression in miniature pig nuclear transfer (mNT) embryos produced under different osmolarity culture conditions. Control group of mNT embryos was cultured in PZM-3 for 6 days. Treatment group of mNT embryos was cultured in modified PZM-3 with NaCl (mPZM-3, 320 mOsmol) for 2 days, and then cultured in PZM-3 (270 mOsmol) for 4 days. Blastocyst formation rate of the treatment group was significantly higher than the control and the apoptosis rate was significantly lower in treatment group. Bax-$\alpha$ and caspase-3 mRNA expression were significantly higher in the control than the treatment group. Also, the majority of imprinting genes were expressed aberrantly in in vitro produced mNT blastocysts compared to in vivo derived blastocyst H19 and Xist mRNA expression were significantly lower in the control than the treatment group or in vivo. IGF2 mRNA expression was significantly higher in the control than the treatment group or in vivo. IGF2r mRNA expression was significantly lower in the control. Methylation profiles of individual DNA strands in H19 upstream T-DMR sequences showed a similar methylation status between treatment group and in vivo. These results indicate that the modification of osmolarity in culture medium at early culture stage could provide more beneficial culture environments for mNT embryos.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.195-202
• /
• 2009

Abnormal development and fetal loss during the post-implantation period are key concerns in the production of cloned animals by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). We hypothesized that the problems in cloned porcine offspring derived from SCNT are related to interactions between the conceptus and the endometrial environment. In the present study, we investigated expression patterns in the formation of placenta-related genes (Cdx2 and GATA6) in whole in vivo normal porcine embryos (from single cell to blastocyst) and each tissue of a normal fetus at Days 25, 35 and 55 by quantitative mRNA expression analysis using real-time PCR. The expression of Cdx2 and GATA6 mRNA increased to around the blastocyst stage. These genes were gradually decreased from the peri-implantation to post-implantation stage. Moreover, we examined the expression patterns of Cdx2 and GATA6 in Day 35 normal and SCNT cloned fetuses by the same methods. And, the level of Cdx2 and GATA6 gene expression in the extraembryonic tissue of SCNT was significantly higher than that of control tissues. From the present results, it can be postulated that the aberrant expression of Cdx2 and GATA6 genes in the endometrial and extraembryonic tissues at pre- and peri-implantation stages may be closely related to the lower efficiency of animal cloning.

• Development and Reproduction
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.297-307
• /
• 2018

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) during in vitro maturation (IVM) on cumulus expansion, nuclear maturation, fertilization capacity and subsequent development in porcine oocytes. The oocytes were incubated with 0, 25, 50, and $100{\mu}M$ ALA. Cumulus expansion was measured at 22 h, and gene expresison and nuclear maturation were analyzed at 44 h after maturation. Then, mature oocytes with ALA were inseminated, and fertilization parameters and embryo development were evaluated. In results, both of cumulus expansion and nuclear maturation were increased in $50{\mu}M$ ALA groups compared to control groups (p<0.05). However, expression of gap junction protein alpha 1 (GJA1, cumulus expansion-related gene), delta-6 desaturase (FADS1, fatty acid metabolism-related gene), and delta-5 desaturase (FADS2) mRNA in cumulus cells were reduced by $50{\mu}M$ ALA treatment (p<0.05). Cleavage rate was enhanced in 25 and $50{\mu}M$ ALA groups (p<0.05), especially, treatment of $50{\mu}M$ ALA promoted early embryo develop to 4 and 8 cell stages (p<0.05). However, blastocyst formation and number of cells in blastocyst were not differ in 25 and $50{\mu}M$ ALA groups. Our findings show that ALA treatment during maturation could improve nuclear maturation, fertilization, and early embryo development through enhancing of cumulus expansion, however, fatty acid metabolism- and cumulus expansion-related genes were down-regulated. Therefore, addition of ALA during IVM of oocytes could improve fertilization and developmental competence, and further studies regarding with the mechanism of ALA metabolism are needed.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.86.1-86.13
• /
• 2021

Background: Conditioned medium is the medium obtained from certain cultured cells and contained secretome from the cells. The secretome, which can be in the form of growth factors, cytokines, exosomes, or other proteins secreted by the cells, can induce the differentiation of cells that still have pluripotent or multipotent properties. Objectives: This study examined the effects of conditioned medium derived from E17 rat brain cells on cells with pluripotent properties. Methods: The conditioned medium used in this study originated from E17 rat brain cells. The CM was used to induce the differentiation of primary colonies of mice blastocysts. Primary colonies were stained with alkaline phosphatase to analyze the pluripotency. The morphological changes in the colonies were examined, and the colonies were stained with GFAP and Neu-N markers on days two and seven after adding the conditioned medium. Results: The conditioned medium could differentiate the primary colony, beginning with the formation of embryoid-body-like structure; round GFAP positive cells were identified. Finally, neuron-like cells testing positive for Neu-N were observed on the seventh day after adding the conditioned medium. Conclusions: Conditioned medium from different species, in this case, E17 rat brain cells, induced and promoted the differentiation of the primary colony from mice blastocysts into neuron-like cells. The addition of CM mediated neurite growth in the differentiation process.