Cleavage stage embryos consume pyruvate before switching to glucose as the major energy substrate for blastocyst formation. This switch is conditional, because freshly collected two-cell embryos form blastocysts without glucose by increasing pyruvate consumption. Zygotes cultured without glucose cannot adapt in this way and degenerate, but paradoxically demonstrate upregulation of the H+-monocarboxylate transporter protein, MCT2, in morulae. MCT2 is a high affinity transporter implicated in redox shuttling for peroxisomal beta-oxidation of fatty acids.3 Fatty acids may provide energy for embryos2 but peroxisomal beta-oxidation has not been explored in preimplantation development. Rat oocytes possess a primitive peroxisomal system.1 The possibility therefore exists that MCT2 may also be linked to fatty acid metabolism in embryos. Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)-alpha is a transcriptional regulator of fatty acid transport and beta-oxidation, and controls expression of catalase, a major peroxisomal enzyme. This investigation explores the role of PPAR-α in the glucose-driven control of MCT2 expression in mouse embryos. Zygotes (18 h post-hCG) were cultured in KSOM in the presence or absence of glucose, or KSOM with selective agonists of PPAR-α, fenofibrate and WY 14643. Expression of MCT2 and catalase was analysed by confocal laser scanning immunohistochemistry and western blot. Results confirm the presence of catalase throughout preimplantation development. With glucose, cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for catalase was punctate and diffuse, while MCT2 was localised to apical membranes of outer blastomeres in morulae. Without glucose, catalase and MCT2 expression were increased with notable localisation of catalase to nuclei. This response was reflected in morulae cultured in the presence of glucose and PPAR-α agonists. These data suggest that PPAR-α plays a role in controlling catalase and MCT2 expression in embryos, and that conditions in the absence of glucose are more conducive for PPAR-α activation.
(1)Figueroa C, Kawada ME, Veliz LP, Hidalgo U, Barros C, Gonzalez S and Santos MJ (2000) Peroxisomal proteins in rat gametes. Cell Biochem Biophys 32, 259–268.(2)Hewitson LC, Martin KL and Leese HJ (1996) Effects of metabolic inhibitors on mouse preimplantation embryo development and the energy metabolism of isolated inner cell masses. Mol Reprod Dev 43, 323–330.(3)McClelland GB, Khanna S, Gonzalez GF, Butz CE and Brooks GA (2003) Peroxisomal membrane monocarboxylate transporters: evidence for a redox shuttle system? Biochem Biophys Res Commun 304, 130–135.
Effecf of EDTA on the Preimplantation Development of Mouse Embryos Fertilized in vitro