• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 1999

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of $\alpha$-tocopherol and cysteamine with Whitten's medium in supporting the development on in vitro maturation(IVM), in vitro fertilization (IVF) and in culture(IVC) on porcine oocytes. When the immature oocytes were cultured of $\alpha$-tocopherol for 40h, the nuclear maturation rates were 39, 4, 52.5 and 54.1%, respectivley. The nuclear maturation rates of treat groups were signficantly (P<0.05) higher than those of non-treat groups. After matureation, the oocytes were inseminated in vitro in medium 199 with ejaculated spermatoza for examination of sperm penetration, polyspermy, male pronuclear(MPN) formation, and cleavage rate. Sperm penetration rates of treat higher than the control groups(P<0.05), and MPN formation rates were significantly(P<0.05) higher on treated groups (24.3~53.1%) than control groups(14.2~21.4%). After insemination, the cleavage rates at 120hr were groups higher than control groups(P<0.05).

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 1992

1. In vitro system, LR and FSR accelerated and facilitated meiotic progression, and LH selectively improved cytoplasmic maturation which is required to promote the formation of a male pronucleus. 2. Caffeine (2mM) in the fetilization medium was required not only for inducing zona penetrating ability of boar also for developing to the male pronucleus of the penetrat- ing spermatozoa in vitro. 3. The germinal vesicle (GV)stage was observed for the first 17.6 hr;germinal vesicle break-down (GVBD)stage between 17.6~26.4 hr ;metaphase I (M-I)from 26.4 - 30. 9hr;anaphase I(A-I)ranged from 30. 9~33.4hr;telophase I(T-I) at 33.4~34.4hr; and metaphase II(M-II) at 34.4-48hr. 4. The addition of 10%(v /v) pig follicular fluid (pFF) to maturation media significantly increased the rate of nuclear maturation of pig oocytes (p<0.01), whereas the rate of nuclear maturation of pig oocytes among three different media did not differ. 5. The presence of a primary culture of POEC promotes in vitro development of early cleavage stage pig embryos.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.265-270
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• 2012

In canine, oocytes are ovulated at the GV (germinal vesicle) stage and they have to fulfill maturation phase before reaching metaphase II stage. The efficiency of in vitro maturation is still very low. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of in vitro maturation on nuclear changes of immature canine oocytes recovered from different reproductive stages ovaries and different culture conditions. The oocytes were cultured in TCM-199 with supplement at 5% $CO_2$ and $38.5^{\circ}C$ for 72 h. The nuclear maturation of canine oocytes was evaluated with Hoechst 33342 stain under fluorescence microscope (Fig. 1). The results of this study detected differences in in vitro maturation rate between oocytes recovered from follicle status and non-follicle status ovaries. However, these differences were not significant as indicated in Table 1 and Fig. 2. In regard to the effect of culture condition with supplements, we did not found significant differences compared with control group (Table 2, Table 3). One of the reasons for this data could be the conditions that ovaries were exposed during slaughtering process or the long distant transportation of the ovaries. Although these data have not shown clearly significant differences results compared with control, furthermore the different reproductive status ovaries was beneficial for maturation of oocytes in vitro and can be a basic part of knowledge to improve in vitro maturation of canine oocytes.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2017

This study was conducted to determine the effects of biophoton treatment during in vitro maturation (IVM) and/or in vitro culture (IVC) on oocyte maturation and embryonic development in pigs. An apparatus capable of generating homogeneous biophoton energy emissions was placed in an incubator. Initially, immature pig oocytes were matured in the biophoton-equipped incubator in medium 199 supplemented with cysteine, epidermal growth factor, insulin, and gonadotrophic hormones for 22 h, after which they were matured in hormone-free medium for an additional 22 hr. Next, IVM oocytes were induced for parthenogenesis (PA) or provided as cytoplasts for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Treatment of oocytes with biophoton energy during IVM did not improve cumulus cell expansion, nuclear maturation, intraoocyte glutathione content, or mitochondrial distribution of oocytes. However, biophoton-treated oocytes showed higher (p < 0.05) blastocyst formation after PA than that in untreated oocytes (50.7% vs. 42.7%). In an additional experiment, SCNT embryos produced from biophoton-treated oocytes showed a greater (p < 0.05) number of cells in blastocysts (52.6 vs. 43.9) than that in untreated oocytes. Taken together, our results demonstrate that biophoton treatment during IVM improves developmental competence of PA- and SCNT-derived embryos.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.70-78
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• 1989

Mouse eggs recovered from oviducts at one hourly intervals between 10 and 20 hours after administration of hCG were fixed, stained and then investigated the rate of in vitro fertilization and nuclear maturation. In case of out- bred ICR mice, ovulations were occured between 11 and 13 hours after hCG injection. The stages of in vitro maturation of eggs recovered from female mice at various times after hCG injection were metaphase I, anaphase I, telophase I and metaphase II. However the majority was metaphase I(17.6 to 44.4%) and metaphase II(42.9 to 80.0%) stage. When the eggs were inseminated with epididymal spermatozoa, the fertilization rate was declined as the egg recovery time after hCG administration was delayed. That is, the proportion of eggs undergoing fertilization became higher(68.1 to 77.4%) in the eggs at 12 to 15hr after injection of hCG than those(17.5 to 56.4) at 16 to 20 hr after injection of hCG. Also, when nuclear maturation of the unfertilized eggs were observed at 8 hours after insemination, the majority was in metaphase I and metaphase II and no anaphase I and telophase I were observed.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.419-427
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• 1990

Immature bovine oocytes were cultured to investigate whether the addition of FCS(10% or 20% ), CS (10%or 20% ) or BSA(5mg/ml) to culture medium with or without HEPES and co-culture with granulosa cells affect the frequency of in vitro maturation of extrafollicular bovine oocytes. After culture, the maturation rates were examined by the presence of 1st polar body and nuclear configuration. The maturation rate when FCS and CS as protein supplement were added to culture medium with or without HEPES was significantly higher than when BSA was added, and the maturation rate of extrafollicular bovine oocytes co-cultured with granulosa cells was higher than that cultured without granulosa cells, but there was no significant difference. FCS and CS were shown to be superior protein supplement when compared to BSA, and serum concentration, HEPES and co-culture with granulosa cells did not affect the in vitro-maturation of extrafollicular bovine oocytes.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.183-190
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• 1994

Purpose of the present study was to find the optimal culture conditions for the maturation and fertilization of immature oocytes by the use human body fluids and gonadotropins (Gn) in the mouse model. Cumulus-enclosed mouse immature oocytes were incubated in the medium containing various human body fluids with or without Gn in vitro, and examined to confirm nuclear maturation (NM) and fertilization. Female ICR mice were stimulated with 7.5 IU pregnant mares' serum gonadotropin (PMSG). Cumulus-enclosed immature oocytes were isolated at 48-52 hr post PMSG injection and cultured in TCM 199 supplemented with various concentrations (20, 50, and 70%) of human body fluids such as fetal cord serum (hCS), follicular fluid (hFF), peritoneal fluid (hPF) and amniotic fluid (hAF) in the presence or absence of 10 IU/ml PMSG and 10 IU/ml human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) for 18 hr. Fetal calf serum (FCS) was used as a control for the supplements. Matured oocytes were fertilized with sperm collected from the epididymis of male mice. Fertilization was conducted in T6 medium containing 15 mgl ml bovine serum albumin, and confirmed at 6 hr post-insemination. Evaluation of nucler maturation and fertilization was carried out by rapid staining using fuchin. There was no significant difference between the effects of human body fluids and FCS supplements on nuclear maturation of cumulus enclosed mouse immature oocytes. When maturation medium was supplemented with 20% hPF or 20% hAF, fertilization rates were significantly (P<0.01) lower than that of 20% FCS, hCS and hFF groups. However, higher concentrations of body fluids during IVM were not more beneficial on fertilizability of oocytes. The addition of Gn significantly increased the fertilization rates in hPF and hAF groups (hPF without Gn; 51.5%, compared with 85.1% for addition of Gn, and hAF without Gn; 30.1% compared with 85.8% for addition of Gn) at 20% concentration. These results suggest that human body fluids at 20% concentration and gonadotropins can be used as supplements for the maturation of mouse immature oocytes in vitro. When gonadotropins supplemented with the human body fluids in the maturation medium, fertilizability of mouse immature oocytes was increased in hPF and hAF groups. These results can be applied to maturation of human immature oocytes in vitro.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.205-213
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• 2017

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of additional alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) supplementation during in vitro maturation (IVM) and culture (IVC) on nucleic maturation and embryo development of pigs. Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were incubated in IVM medium containing different concentration of ALA (25, 50 and $100{\mu}M$) for 44 h. After in vitro maturation, nuclear maturation of oocytes were evaluated by aceto-orcein stain. Mature oocytes with $50{\mu}M$ ALA were fertilized and cultured in IVC medium with ALA (25, 50 and $100{\mu}M$) during early-embryogenesis (48 hours after fertilization). Then, embryos were cultured with $25{\mu}M$ ALA during early embryogenesis and/or late embryogenesis (120 hours after early-embryogenesis). In results, oocyte maturation were significantly increased by $50{\mu}M$ ALA treatment groups compared with control groups (p<0.05). Treatment of $25{\mu}M$ ALA during early-embryogenesis enhanced cleavage rate of embryo compared with other groups (p<0.05), whereas formation and total cell number of blastocyst had no significant difference. Similarly, cleavage rate of embryos were increased by $25{\mu}M$ ALA supplement during early- or late-embryogenesis than ALA treatment both stage of embryogenesis (p<0.05), but did not influence to blastocyst formation. Interestingly, total cell number of blastocyst were enhanced in ALA treatment group during early-embryogenesis. These findings indicated that ALA supplement enhance the nuclear maturation of oocyte and embryo development, however, excessive ALA could negatively influence. Therefore, we suggest that ALA is used for improvement of in vitro production of mammalian embryo and further study regarding with functional mechanism of ALA is needed.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.245-249
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) on maturation of bovine follicular oocytes in vitro. Oocytes were recovered from the ovaries of slaughtered Hanwoos. The oocytes were matured in TCM 199 at 39$^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$ in air. Growth factors were added to maturation medium as follows: control (no serum), EGF (10ng/m1, 50ng/ml or 100ng/m1), IGF-1 (100ng/m1) and EGF (50ng/ml) + IGF-1 (100ng/m1). The oocytes were placed onto a slide and stained with aceto-orcein dye. Nuclear maturation was evaluated and classified as germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), metaphase-I (MI) or metaphase-ll(Mll). Maturation rates were 37.9% (control), 45.8% (EGF, 10ng/m1), 55.8% (EGF, 50ng/ml), 44.4% (EGF, 100ng/m1), 46.7% (IGF-1, 100ng/m1) and 67.0% (IGF-1+EGF). The highest group developed to Mll stage was IGF-1+EGF treatment group (p<0.05). Therefore, nuclear maturation of bovine oocytes were affected by both of growth factors, and it seems to have a mutual activity between them.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.213-220
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• 2009

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of eCG and various concentrations (20, 40, and 80 ${\mu}g/ml$) of porcine FSH on nuclear maturation and intracellular glutathione (GSH) level of oocytes, and embryonic development after parthenogenetic activation (PA) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) in pigs. Immature pig oocytes were matured in TCM-199 supplemented with porcine follicular fluid, cysteine, pyruvate, EGF, insulin, and hormones (10 IU/ml hCG and 10 IU/ml eCG or $20{\sim}80{\mu}g/ml$ FSH) for the first 22 h and then further cultured in hormone-tree medium for an additional 22 h. Nuclear maturation of oocytes ($85{\sim}89%$) was not influencem foreCG and various concentrations FSH. Embryonic development to the cleavage stage ($86{\sim}94%$) and mean number of cells in blastocyst ($33{\sim}37$ cells) after PA were not altered but blastocyst formation e-treignificaddlor(p<0.05) improvem forthe supplementation eith 80 ${\mu}g/ml$ FSHr(64%) compared to 47%, io8%, iand 47% in oocytes that were treated with eCG, 20,i and 40 ${\mu}g/ml$ FSH,i numectivelo. In SCNT, fusion ($78{\sim}83%$) of cell-cytoplast couplets and siosequent embryo cleavage ($82{\sim}88%$) were not influencem fordifferent gonadotropins but blastocyst formation tended to increase forthe supplementation eith 80 ${\mu}g/ml$ FSHr(25% vs. $11{\sim}18%$). Our nuults demonstrated that oocyte maturation and embryonic development after PA and SCNT e-frinfluencem fortype of gcem fortype of gits concentration. In this study, supplementation of maturation medium eith 80 ${\mu}g/ml$ FSHrimproved preimplantation development of PA and SCNT pig embryos, probably by increasing intracellular GSH concentration of matured oocytes.