Effect of oocyte-secreted factors on porcine in vitro maturation, cumulus expansion and developmental competence of parthenotes

Zygote ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ma. Ninia L. Gomez ◽  
Jung Taek Kang ◽  
Ok Jae Koo ◽  
Su Jin Kim ◽  
Dae Kee Kwon ◽  
...  

SummaryThe oocyte is known from recent studies in the mouse, cow, sheep and human to be a central regulator of follicular cell function. However, in the pig, little information is known about the regulation of cumulus expansion by oocyte-secreted factors and oocyte quality. We investigated the possible effects of oocyte-secreted factors during in vitro maturation on cumulus expansion and on porcine oocytes as judged by subsequent embryonic development after parthenogenetic activation. Cumulus–oocyte complexes (COC) from antral follicles of pig ovaries collected from a local abattoir were divided into control and treatment groups and were cultured in tissue culture medium 199 supplemented with follicle-stimulating hormone. Treatment groups consisted of increasing numbers of denuded oocytes (DO) co-cultured with COC (at ratios of COC to DO of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4 and 1:5). After incubation for 44 h, cumulus expansion and maturation rates were assessed and oocytes were activated parthenogenetically. Cumulus expansion in the 1 COC:4 DO and 1 COC:5 DO groups was low and altered because full dispersion of the outer layer did not occur. Cell viability was not affected, as measured by the automated cell counter, but scanning electron microscopy revealed only a scanty extracellular matrix. Blastocyst rate was significantly higher in the 1 COC:4 DO (34.4%) and in the 1 COC:5 DO (34.9%) groups (p < 0.05) when compared with other groups. Maturation rate, cleavage rate and total cell number showed no significant difference between control and treatment groups. Amplification by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) showed up-regulation of growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) in the cumulus cells in the 1 COC:4 DO group at 44 h. We conclude that denuded porcine oocytes could improve the maturation of COC as evidenced by increased blastocyst development in the 1 COC:4 DO, even though cumulus expansion was poor. This improvement could be a result of the GDF9 up-regulation.

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
K. M. Banwell ◽  
M. Lane ◽  
D. L. Russell ◽  
K. L. Kind ◽  
J. G. Thompson

Follicular antral oxygen tension is thought to influence subsequent oocyte developmental competence. Despite this, in vitro maturation (IVM) is routinely performed in either 5 or 20% O2 and while low O2 has been shown to be beneficial to embryo development in many species, the effect of altering O2 concentration during IVM has not been adequately investigated. Here we investigated the effects of a range of O2 concentrations during IVM on meiotic maturation and subsequent embryo development after IVF. Ovaries from eCG-stimulated CBA F1 female mice (21 days) were collected and intact cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) cultured for 17–18 h under 2, 5, 10 or 20% O2 (6% CO2 and balance of N2). Matured COCs were denuded of cumulus cells, fixed and stained (1% aceto-orcein) for visualisation of maturation status. No significant difference in maturation rates between treatment groups was observed. Following IVF (performed under 5% O2, 6% CO2 and balance of N2), no difference in fertilisation rates between treatment groups was observed in a randomly selected cohort 7 h post-fertilisation. There was also no significant difference in cleavage rates after 24 h or ability to reach blastocyst stage after 96 h, with a tendency (P = 0.079) for more blastocysts in 2% O2. However there was a significant increase in the number of trophectoderm cells present in the resulting blastocysts (P < 0.05) in the 2% O2 group (35 ± 2.1) compared to 20% O2 (25 ± 2.8). Our data suggests that O2 concentration during IVM does not influence nuclear maturation or subsequent fertilisation, cleavage and blastocyst development rates. However, maturation in 2% O2 significantly alters subsequent cell lineage within blastocysts to favour trophectoderm development. Such skewed trophectoderm cell number may influence embryo viability. Funded by NHMRC and NIH.


Zygote ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-45
Author(s):  
Jaqueline Sudiman ◽  
Alice Lee ◽  
Kheng Ling Ong ◽  
Wu Zi Yuan ◽  
Sarah Jansen ◽  
...  

SummaryMouse and lamb oocytes were vitrified with, or exposed to, different cryoprotectants and evaluated for their effects on their survival and developmental competence after in vitro fertilization (IVF) and activation treatments. Control oocytes remained untreated, whilst the remainder were exposed to three different combinations of vitrification solutions [dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) + ethylene glycol (EG), EG only, or propanediol (PROH) + EG] and either vitrified or left unfrozen (exposed groups). Oocytes in the control and vitrified groups underwent IVF and developmental competence was assessed to the blastocyst stage. In lambs, survival rate in vitrified oocytes was significantly lower than for oocytes in the exposed groups (P <0.05). Blastocyst development was low in vitrified oocytes compared with controls (<6% vs 38.9%, P <0.01). Parthenogenetic activation was more prevalent in vitrified lamb oocytes compared with controls (P <0.05). No evidence of zona pellucida hardening or cortical granule exocytosis could account for reduced fertilization rates in vitrified lamb oocytes. Mouse oocytes demonstrated a completely different response to lamb oocytes, with survival and parthenogenetic activation rates unaffected by the vitrification process. Treatment of mouse oocytes with DMSO + EG yielded significantly higher survival and cleavage rates than treatment with PROH + EG (87.8% and 51.7% vs 32.7% and 16.7% respectively, P <0.01), however cleavage rate for vitrified oocytes remained lower than for the controls (51.7% vs 91.7%, P <0.01) as did mean blastocyst cell number (33 ± 3.1 vs 42 ± 1.5, P <0.05). From this study, it is clear that lamb and mouse show different tolerances to cryoprotectants commonly used in vitrification procedures, and careful selection and testing of species-compatible cryoprotectants is required when vitrifying oocytes to optimize survival and embryo development.


2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 573 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Tayfur Tecirlioglu ◽  
Melissa A. Cooney ◽  
Ian M. Lewis ◽  
Natasha A. Korfiatis ◽  
Renee Hodgson ◽  
...  

The aim of the present study was to compare the in vitro and in vivo developmental competence of hand-made cloning (HMC) embryos with the conventional nuclear transfer (NT) method using five somatic cell lines and in vitro-fertilised (IVF; control) embryos. Modifications to the HMC procedure included fusion efficiency optimisation, effect of cytoplasmic volume and cloned embryo aggregation. The developmental competence of blastocysts from each of the treatment groups and cell lines used was assessed following transfer to 345 recipients. Vitrification was also used to enable management of recipient resources and to assess the susceptibility of membranes to cryopreservation following zona removal. Increasing cytoplasmic volume to 150% or aggregating two embryos improved the blastocyst development rate and increased the total cell number. Although HMC embryo transfers established a significantly higher pregnancy rate on Day 30 than fresh IVF or NT embryo transfers, the overall outcome in terms of cloned live births derived from either fresh or vitrified/thawed HMC or NT embryo transfers across the five cell lines did not differ. The birth and continued survival of clones produced with HMC technology with equivalent efficiency to NT shows that it can be used as an alternative method for the generation of cloned offspring in the bovine.


2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamer S. Hussein ◽  
Melanie L. Sutton-McDowall ◽  
Robert B. Gilchrist ◽  
Jeremy G. Thompson

We investigated whether paracrine signalling between the bovine oocyte and cumulus cells is altered during the course of in vitro maturation (IVM). Bovine COCs were cocultured with denuded oocytes or treated with specific oocyte-secreted factors, namely recombinant bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-15 or growth differentiation factor (GDF)-9, beginning from 0 or 9 h IVM. To generate a 9-h denuded oocyte (DO) group, COCs were cultured intact for the first 9 h of IVM and then denuded. Coculturing intact COCs with DOs denuded immediately after collection or following 9 h of maturation did not affect cleavage rate, but improved blastocyst yield (P < 0.05) on Day 8 (51 and 61%, respectively; P < 0.05) and cell number compared with COCs cultured alone (41%). Significantly, we observed higher levels of endogenous GDF-9 and BMP-15 protein in oocytes of COCs matured for 9 h compared with no incubation. The addition of 175 ng mL–1 GDF-9 or 10% v/v BMP-15 from partially purified transfected 293H cell supernatant for 24 h IVM significantly enhanced development to the blastocyst stage from 40% (control) to 51 and 47%, respectively (P < 0.05). However, treatment of COCs with GDF-9 or BMP-15 between 9 and 24 h of IVM did not increase blastocyst yield. These results provide evidence of quantitative and possibly qualitative temporal changes in oocyte paracrine factor production during IVM.


Zygote ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
So Gun Hong ◽  
Goo Jang ◽  
Hyun Ju Oh ◽  
Ok Jae Koo ◽  
Jung Eun Park ◽  
...  

SummaryBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signalling via tyrosine kinase B receptors may play an important role in ovarian development and function. It has been reported that metformin elevates the activity of Tyrosine kinase receptors and may amplify BDNF signalling. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of BDNF during in vitro maturation (IVM) and/or in vitro culture (IVC) (Experiment 1), and to evaluate the collaborative effect of BDNF and metformin treatment on the developmental competence of bovine in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, BDNF, which was added to our previously established IVM systems, significantly increased the proportions of MII oocytes at both 10 ng/ml (86.7%) and 100 ng/ml (85.4%) compared with the control (64.0%). However, there was no statistically significant difference in blastocyst development between the control or BDNF-supplemented groups. In Experiment 2, in order to investigate the effect of BDNF (10 ng/ml) and/or metformin (10−5 M) per se, TCM-199 without serum and hormones was used as the control IVM medium. The BDNF (48.3%) and BDNF plus metformin (56.5%) significantly enhanced the proportions of MII oocytes compared with the control (34.4%). Although, BDNF or metformin alone had no effect in embryo development, BDNF plus metformin significantly improved early embryo development to the 8–16-cell stage compared with the control (16.5 vs. 5.5%). In conclusion, the combination of BDNF and metformin may have a collaborative effect during the IVM period. These results could further contribute to the establishment of a more efficient bovine in vitro embryo production system.


2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
B. Gajda ◽  
Z. Smorag ◽  
M. Bryla

It is possible to improve the success of cryopreservation of in vitro-produced bovine embryos by modifying the embryos with the metabolic regulator phenazine ethosulfate (PES) (Seidel 2006 Theriogenology 65, 228–235). The PES treatment increased glucose matabolism, tended to increase the pentose phosphate pathway flux of glucose, and clearly reduced accumulation of lipids in cultured bovine embryos (De La Torre-Sanchez et al. 2006 Reprod. Fertil. Dev. 18, 597–607). It is known that porcine embryos have a considerably high content of lipids, and the success rates of their cryopreservation appear to be highly correlated with cytoplasmic lipid content. In our preliminary study, we observed that supplementation of NCSU-23 medium with PES has a positive effect on efficiency of pig blastocysts of good quality (Gajda et al.. 2007 Acta Biochim. Pol. 54(Suppl 1), 52 abst). In the present study, the effects of PES on pig blastocyst development, apoptosis, and survival after vitrification were investigated. In Exp. 1, porcine zygotes obtained from superovulated gilts were cultured in NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 0 (control), 0.025, 0.05, or 0.075 µm PES. The culture was performed at 39�C, with 5% CO2 in air, for 96–120 h. Embryo quality criteria were developmental competence (cleavage, morula stage, and blastocyst stage), cell number per blastocyst, and the degree of apoptosis as assessed by TUNEL staining. In Exp. 2, expanded blastocysts cultured with 0.025 µm PES were vitrified in a ethylene glycol and dimethyl sulfoxide mixture using open pulled straw (OPS) technology (Vajta et al. 1997 Acta Vet. Scand. 38, 349–352). After thawing, the blastocysts were cultured in vitro for re-expansion or transferred to synchronized recipients. Data were analyzed by chi-square test. There was a difference between the 0.025 µm PES-treated and the control group in percentage of cleaved embryos (99.0 and 91.4%, respectively; P < 0.05), between all experimental groups and control in percentage of morula stage (90.7, 87.8, 83.8, and 80.0%, respectively), and between 0.025 and 0.05 µm PES-treated and control in percentage of blastocyst rates (70.0, 75.5, and 65.7%, respectively). The number of cells and percentage of TUNEL-positive nuclei per blastocyst were lower in the PES-treated than in the control group. The survival rate of blastocysts after vitrification and thawing was enhanced in the presence of PES compared to that in the PES-free group (45.2 and 38.9%, respectively; P < 0.05). After transfer of 56 expanded blastocysts cultured with PES and vitrified into 3 recipients, two gilts were confirmed pregnant at 35 days of gestation. In conclusion, a higher blastocyst percentage with a low incidence of apoptosis was obtained in the presence of PES compared to control. These blastocysts also had an increased ability to survive cryopreservation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
M. Nkadimeng ◽  
E. van Marle-Koster ◽  
K. P. M. Lekola ◽  
M. L. Mphaphathi ◽  
M. M. Seshoka ◽  
...  

Heat stress during IVF is associated with reduced fertility in cattle oocytes. It may, however, enhance thermo-tolerance or cause detrimental effects on a variety of cell types or organisms, depending on the duration and intensity of the thermal challenge. The aim of this study was to evaluate the developmental potential of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) matured for 18 or 24 h and incubated at 39°C or 41°C. A total of 1000 immature oocytes were collected at slaughter from indigenous South African cow ovaries. The COC were randomly allocated (100/treatment) into 2 maturation times (18 or 24 h) and cultured in M199 + FSH-LH-estradiol medium under oil at 100% humidity and 5% CO2 at 39°C or 41°C. Post maturation, oocytes were subjected to normal subsequent embryo conditions. The Bracket and Oliphant medium was used for IVF. All matured oocytes were fertilised for 6 h with frozen-thawed Nguni bull semen at a concentration of 265 × 106. The presumptive zygotes from each treatment were cultured into SOF-BSA medium under oil and incubated at 39°C for assessment of cleavage rate 48 h post IVF. After Day 7 of culture, blastocyst were stained (Hoechst 33323) for nuclei cell count. Statistical analyses was performed using Genstat® software of SAS (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA; P < 0.05). Oocytes that were matured for 18 h in 41°C resulted in more 8-cell embryos (41%) compared with those incubated at 39°C (21.6%). However, no difference was observed for cleavage rate at both maturation times and incubation temperatures (41 or 39°C). There was more morula formation from oocytes matured for 18 h (19.6%) and 24 h (19.0%) at 41°C compared to 39°C (8.4%) group. The results further showed more blastocyst formation during 18 h at 41°C (15.2%) than at 39°C (7.4%) and during 24 h at 41°C (11.2%), 39°C (11.4%). However there was no difference in the nuclei cell number during 18 h at 41°C (45.2), 24 h (45.8), and 18 h at 39°C (43.4) of maturation. Thus, there was a significant difference in the nuclei cell numbers at 24 h on 39°C (n = 133.2) and 41°C (n = 45.8). In conclusion, oocytes that were matured for 18 and 24 h at 41°C or for 18 h at 39°C developed further to blastocyst stage on in vitro embryo production, however, with low nuclei cell numbers due to accelerated maturation temperature or shortened maturation period.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Y. Liu ◽  
A. Lucas-Hahn ◽  
B. Petersen ◽  
R. Li ◽  
P. Hassel ◽  
...  

Two nuclear transfer (NT) techniques are routinely used to produce cloned animals, traditional cloning (TC) and handmade cloning (HMC). The TC embryos keep their zona and can be transferred at early stages, whereas HMC embryos are zona-free and must be cultured to the morula/blastocyst stage before transfer. Some studies have shown that in vitro culture reduces embryo development and quality, but it is not known whether embryos produced by TC or HMC differ because of the NT method or the in vitro culture. Therefore, we investigated the developmental competence and histone acetylation (H3K18ac) of porcine NT embryos produced by TC and HMC with (Day 5 and 6) or without (Day 0) in vitro culture. Nuclear transfer experiments were performed on same day (Day 0), using same batch of porcine oocytes and donor cells and same in vitro culture conditions. Cloning procedures were previously described (TC : Cloning Stem Cells 10 : 355; HMC : Zygote 20 : 61). Parthenogenetically activated embryos (PA) were used as control of activation and culture conditions. Embryos from all groups were collected for immunostaining of H3K18ac on Days 0, 5, and 6. The normalized H3K18ac level was calculated as previously described (Epigenetics 6 : 177). Cell numbers per blastocyst in each group were counted on Days 5 and 6. The cleavage rate (Day 2) and blastocyst rates (Days 5 and 6) between groups were analysed by Chi-squared test, whereas cell number per blastocysts and H3K18ac level between groups and days were analysed by ANOVA (SAS version 9.2; SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Cleavage rate of HMC embryos was lower than that of TC embryos, but blastocyst rate and cell number per blastocyst were higher in the HMC group compared with TC (Table 1). Differences of H3K18ac level between HMC, TC, and PA groups were only observed on Day 6 but not on Day 0 or Day 5. Within HMC and TC groups, there was no difference in H3K18ac level between Day 0 and Day 5, but the level was lower on Day 6 compared with Day 5 in the HMC group, whereas the TC group displayed the opposite pattern. In conclusion, NT embryos produced by HMC show higher blastocyst rate and cell number per blastocyst compared with TC embryos. Both in vitro culture and the NT method result in differences of the normalized H3K18ac levels. Further study is needed to investigate putative differences between NT embryos produced by HMC and TC compared to in vivo embryos also after transfer to recipients. Table 1.Cleavage and blastocyst rate, cell numbers, and normalized H3K18ac level for handmade cloning (HMC), traditional cloning (TC), and parthenogenetically activated (PA) embryos1


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
G. Singina ◽  
E. Shedova ◽  
T. Taradajnic ◽  
V. Konnova ◽  
E. Tsyndrina

To date, considerable progress has been achieved in in vitro production (IVP) technologies in cattle; however, developmental potentials of oocytes matured in vitro remain low compared with in vivo-matured oocytes. Thus, a better understanding of different aspects of oocyte maturation may allow us to increase the embryo development rate. Our study was aimed to assess the effects of progesterone (P4) and prolactin (PRL) on the bovine oocyte developmental competence. Bovine cumulus-enclosed oocytes (CEO) were matured using either one-step or two-step maturation conditions. For the one-step protocol, CEO were cultured for 24h in TCM-199 supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS), 10μg mL−1 porcine FSH, and 10μg mL−1 ovine LH (standard medium). For the two-step procedure, CEO were first cultured for 16h in the standard medium (n=1263) and then transferred to 1 of 3 experimental media and cultured for additional 8h in either absence or presence of either P4 (50 ng mL−1) or bovine PRL (50ng mL−1). The 3 media tested in the two-step maturation were (1) TCM-199 containing 10% FCS (group 1), (2) TCM-199 containing 3mg mL−1 BSA (group 2), or (3) Fert-TALP medium supplemented with 6mg mL−1 BSA (group 3). Fert-TALP was selected because it can potentially be used throughout maturation and fertilization. Following in vitro maturation, all oocytes underwent an IVF/in vitro culture procedure as described previously (Singina et al. 2014 Reprod. Fertil. Devel. 26, 154). The embryo development was evaluated at Days 2 and 7 for cleavage and blastocyst rates. In addition, obtained blastocysts were fixed, and the total cell number and the level of apoptosis were determined using 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) and TUNEL staining. The data from 4 to 5 replicates (113-159 oocytes per treatment) were analysed by ANOVA. For oocytes matured for 24h in the one-step culture, the cleavage rate, blastocyst rate, total cell number, and apoptotic nuclei per blastocyst were 66.1±1.1, 23.7±2.0, 71.4±9.1, and 4.8±1.2%, respectively. For the two-step culture, the cleavage rate did not differ from that of the one-step culture system, ranging from 64.8 to 76.5%. Also, no effects of the two-step systems were observed on total cell number (63.0-78.8) or the proportion of apoptotic nuclei (3.3-5.3%) at the blastocyst stage. The culture of CEO in group 1 (without the supplements) had a reduced blastocyst rate (17.4±0.4%; P&lt;0.05) compared with the standard one-step maturation group, and the addition of P4 (but not PRL) improved the blastocyst yield (P&lt;0.05). Furthermore, when P4 (but not PRL) was added to group 2 and group 3 media, blastocyst rates increased significantly (32.9±3.1 and 32.8±2.7%, respectively) compared with those of the one-step group (P&lt;0.05), but did not differ from those of untreated groups 2 and 3 (26.2±2.7 and 30.0±3.0%, respectively). Our data indicate that P4 supplementation during the terminal phase of two-step IVM can enhance the developmental competence of bovine oocytes and that the nature of this effect depends on the composition of IVM medium, whereas no effect of PRL supplementation was observed. The study was supported by RFBR (No. 17-29-08035).


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 162
Author(s):  
M. Saini ◽  
N. L. Selokar ◽  
H. Agrawal ◽  
S. K. Singla ◽  
M. S. Chauhan ◽  
...  

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a promising technology in buffalo for multiplication of elite animals, species conservation, and production of transgenic embryos for therapeutic applications. However, the cloning efficiency obtained in this species is very low, which might be due to improper reprogramming of donor cells after SCNT. Treatment of donor cells or fused embryos or both with epigenetic modifiers might be a suitable approach to improve the ability of donor cells to be reprogrammed. The present study was aimed at examining the effects of treatment of donor cells (24 h before SCNT) or fused embryos (10 h post-electrofusion) or both with 50 nM TSA + 7.5 nM 5-aza-dC on the developmental competence, quality, and epigenetic status of buffalo embryos produced by hand-made cloning (HMC) as described earlier (Saini et al. 2014 Reprod. Fertil. Dev. doi: 10.1071/RD14176). The percentage data were analysed using SYSTAT 12.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) after arcsine transformation. Differences between means were analysed by one-way ANOVA followed by Fisher’s least significant difference test. The blastocyst rate was significantly higher (P < 0.05) and the apoptotic index was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in embryos produced from donor cells or fused embryos or both treated with TSA + 5-aza-dC than that of controls (Table 1). However, the cleavage rate and the total cell number were not significantly different among all the groups. The global level of H3K18ac, examined by immunofluorescence staining, was higher (P < 0.05) and that of H3K27me3 was lower (P < 0.01) in blastocysts produced from donor cells or fused embryos or both treated with TSA + 5-aza-dC than that of controls. These results show that treatment of donor cells, fused embryos, or both with TSA + 5-aza-dC improves the developmental competence and quality, and alters the epigenetic status of buffalo embryos produced by HMC. However, the effects of treatment with these epigenetic modifiers on the pregnancy rate require further studies. Table 1.Effect of treatment of donor cells, fused embryos, or both with 50 nM TSA + 7.5 nM 5-aza-dC on the developmental competence and level of apoptosis in cloned embryos


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document