35 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ONSET OF ENUCLEATION DURING MEIOTIC MATURATION OF RECIPIENT OOCYTES AND DEVELOPMENTAL ABILITY OF SOMATIC CELL NUCLEAR TRANSFER EMBRYOS IN PIGS

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
M. Fahrudin ◽  
K. Kikuchi ◽  
N. W. K. Karja ◽  
M. Ozawa ◽  
T. Somfai ◽  
...  

In somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), maturation promoting factor (MPF) is believed to be one of the factors involved with nuclear envelope breakdown and chromatin condensation of the transferred nucleus. Although MPF activity is high both in metaphase-I or -II oocytes (M-I and M-II, respectively), only M-II oocytes have been used exclusively as recipient cytoplasts in SCNT. In this study, we examined the effect of different onset of (1) enucleation of recipient oocytes at the M-I and M-II stages, and (2) fusion and activation of the couplets on their developmental ability to the blastocyst stage in pigs. The primary cultured cumulus cells were used as donor karyoplasts, and recipient cytoplasts were prepared by enucleation of in vitro-matured oocytes using gradient centrifugation in percoll solution. A karyoplast and a cytoplast were fused by 2 DC pulses of 1.5 kV cm-1 for 20 �s, and then the couplets were activated by 2 DC pulses of 0.8 kV cm-1 for 30 �s. The reconstructed embryos were cultured according to Kikuchi et al. (2002 Biol. Reprod. 66, 1033–1041) except for the addition of 5% FCS to NCSU-37 during Days 2–7 (Day 0 is the day of SCNT) of embryo culture using the WOW culture system (Vajta et al. 2000 Mol. Reprod. Dev. 55, 258–264). Some of the embryos were fixed at 1, 10, and 24 h after activation and examined for morphology of nuclei. After 30 h of IVM, oocytes (mainly at the M-I stage) were enucleated. Then the couplets were fused immediately (Group A) or at 48 h after the onset of IVM (Group B); activation was conducted at 48 h of IVM (Group A) or at 1 h after fusion (Group B). As a control group, oocytes were enucleated after 48 h of IVM and then the couplets were fused and activated. None of the embryos in Group B developed to the blastocyst stage. However, a few of the embryos [2/117 (1.7%)] in Group A developed to the blastocyst stage; however, the rate was significantly lower than that of the control group [10/112 (8.9%); chi-square; P = 0.03]. The rates of embryos undergoing premature chromosome condensation (PCC) in Group B at 1 h and 10 h after activation were significantly lower than those in Group A [1 h: 51/69 (73.9%) vs. 76/76 (100%); 10 h: 24/76 (31.6%) vs. 45/91 (49.5%), respectively); some of them had pseudo-pronuclei. By 24 h after activation there were no detectable differences in the rates of cleavage [2/70 (2.9%) vs. 2/61 (3.3%)]; however, the rates were significantly lower than that of the control group [23/90 (25.6%); chi-square; P < 0.05]. These results suggest that MPF activity might be changed in oocytes without nucleus during the maturation culture. Thus, a specific nucleus-associated factor(s) that may present in the cytoplasm seems to be essential for the successful remodeling of the transferred nucleus and the development of SCNT embryos to the blastocyst stage.

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
C. P. Buemo ◽  
A. Gambini ◽  
I. Hiriart ◽  
D. Salamone

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) derived blastocysts have lower cell number than IVF-derived blastocysts and their in vivo counterparts. The aim of this study was to improve the blastocyst rates and quality of SCNT blastocysts by the aggregation of genetically identical free zona pellucida (ZP) porcine clones. Cumulus–oocyte complexes were recovered from slaughterhouse ovaries by follicular aspiration. Maturation was performed in TCM for 42 to 48 h at 39°C and 5% CO2. After denudation by treatment with hyaluronidase, mature oocytes were stripped of the ZP using a protease and then enucleated by micromanipulation; staining was performed with Hoechst 33342 to observe metaphase II. Ooplasms were placed in phytohemagglutinin to permit different membranes to adhere between each other; the ooplasm membrane was adhered to a porcine fetal fibroblast from an in vitro culture. Adhered membranes of the donor cell nucleus and enucleated oocyte cytoplasm were electrofused through the use of an electric pulse (80 V for 30 μs). All reconstituted embryos (RE) were electrically activated using an electroporator in activation medium (0.3 M mannitol, 1.0 mM CaCl2, 0.1 mM MgCl2, and 0.01% PVA) by a DC pulse of 1.2 kV cm–1 for 80 μs. Then, the oocytes were incubated in 2 mM 6-DMAP for 3 h. In vitro culture of free ZP embryos was achieved in a system of well of wells in 100 μL of medium, placing 3 activated oocytes per microwell (aggregation embryo), whereas the control group was cultivated with equal drops without microwells. Embryos were cultivated at 39°C in 5% O2, 5% CO2 for 7 days in SOF medium with a supplement of 10% fetal bovine serum on the fifth day. The RE were placed in microwells. Two experimental groups were used, control group (not added 1X) and 3 RE per microwell (3X). At Day 7, resulting blastocysts were classified according to their morphology and diameter to determine their quality and evaluate if the embryo aggregation improves it. Results demonstrated that aggregation improves in vitro embryo development rates until blastocyst stage and indicated that blastocysts rates calculated over total number of oocytes do not differ between groups (Table 1). Embryo aggregation improves cleavage per oocyte and cleavage per microwell rates, presenting statistical significant differences and increasing the probabilities of higher embryo development generation until the blastocyst stage with better quality and higher diameter. Table 1.Somatic cell nuclear transfer cloning and embryo aggregation


Zygote ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Salehi ◽  
Yoko Kato ◽  
Yukio Tsunoda

SummaryThe beneficial effect of supplementing culture medium with melatonin has been reported during in vitro embryo development of species such as mouse, bovine and porcine. However, the effect of melatonin on mouse somatic cell nuclear transfer remains unknown. In this study, we assessed the effects of various concentrations of melatonin (10−6 to 10−12 M) on the in vitro development of mouse somatic cell nuclear transfer embryos for 96 h. Embryos cultured without melatonin were used as control. There was no significant difference in cleavage rates between the groups supplemented with melatonin, dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) and the control. The rate of development to blastocyst stage was significantly higher in the group supplemented with 10−12 M melatonin compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Thus, our data demonstrated that adding melatonin to pre-implantation mouse nuclear-transferred embryos can accelerate blastocyst formation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 169
Author(s):  
Y. H. Nam ◽  
Y. Jeon ◽  
S. A. Cheong ◽  
S. S. Kwak ◽  
S. H. Hyun

Recently, great focus has been on the rescue of endangered animals through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Because it is difficult to obtain the oocytes of endangered species, interspecies SCNT (iSCNT) methods have been attempted. Numerous iSCNT embryos have shown unsuccessful development due to aberrations in expression of housekeeping genes and genes dependent on the major embryonic genome activation (EGA). In particular, aberrant EGA may cause the arrest of nucleoli formation and developmental block in embryos. According to this concept, we performed raccoon iSCNT using porcine oocytes and analyzed iSCNT embryo development pattern and formation of nucleoli. Enucleated porcine oocytes were fused with raccoon fibroblasts by electrofusion. Cleavage and blastocyst formation were evaluated under a stereomicroscope at 48 and 168 h post-activation (hpa), respectively. To confirm the formation of nucleoli, which can be detected by C23 antibody labeling in many mammalian species, C23 immunocytochemistry was performed at 48 and 72 hpa. A total of 158 iSCNT embryos were cultured; 68.5% of the raccoon iSCNT embryos were cleaved at 48 hpa (1-cell stage: 9.7%; 2-cell stage: 14.4%; 4-cell stage: 34.1%; 6-cell stage: 12.7%; 8-cell stage: 7.3%; fragmented: 21.8%). But, the embryos seen as 5- to 8-cell stage did not have the same number of nuclei as their blastomere number. When raccoon iSCNT embryos were stained by Hoechst 33342, 5- to 8-blastomere raccoon iSCNT embryos had only 4 nuclei. The raccoon iSCNT embryos did not develop past the 4-cell stage and failed to form blastocysts. In the control group, 65.2% of pig SCNT embryos were cleaved at 48 hpa (1-cell stage: 8.0%; 2-cell stage: 4.2%; 4-cell stage: 23.6%; 6-cell stage: 13.6%; 8-cell stage: 23.8%; fragmented: 26.8%), and 10.0% of pig SCNT embryos developed to blastocysts. In raccoon iSCNT embryos, raccoon nuclei failed to form nucleoli at 48 and 72 hpa. By contrast, pig SCNT embryos showed 18.8 and 87.9% nucleoli formation at 48 and 72 hpa. Our results demonstrate that 4-cell-stage embryos of raccoon-porcine hybrid embryos may be produced by SCNT methods. The pig oocytes partly supported the remodeling and reprogramming of the raccoon somatic cell nuclei, but they were unable to support nucleoli formation. Moreover, aberrant nucleoli formation caused the unsuccessful development of raccoon SCNT embryos to the blastocyst stage. This work was supported by a grant from the Next Generation BioGreen 21 program (no. PJ008121012011), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao-Bo Luo ◽  
Long Jin ◽  
Qing Guo ◽  
Jun-Xia Wang ◽  
Xiao-Xu Xing ◽  
...  

Accumulating evidence suggests that aberrant epigenetic reprogramming and low pluripotency of donor nuclei lead to abnormal development of cloned embryos and underlie the inefficiency of mammalian somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The present study demonstrates that treatment with the small molecule RepSox alone upregulates the expression of pluripotency-related genes in porcine SCNT embryos. Treatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitor LBH589 significantly increased the blastocyst formation rate, whereas treatment with RepSox did not. Cotreatment with 12.5 μM RepSox and 50 nM LBH589 (RepSox + LBH589) for 24 h significantly increased the blastocyst formation rate compared with that of untreated embryos (26.9% vs 8.5% respectively; P < 0.05). Furthermore, the expression of pluripotency-related genes octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (NANOG) and SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2 (SOX2) were found to significantly increased in the RepSox + LBH589 compared with control group at both the 4-cell and blastocyst stages. In particular, the expression of NANOG was 135-fold higher at the blastocyst stage in the RepSox + LBH589 group. Moreover, RepSox + LBH589 improved epigenetic reprogramming. In summary, RepSox + LBH589 increases the expression of developmentally important genes, optimises epigenetic reprogramming and improves the in vitro development of porcine SCNT embryos.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 312-316
Author(s):  
Mishra Neha Sanjeev ◽  
Harsimran Kaur ◽  
Sandeep Singh Mayall ◽  
Rishika ◽  
Ramakrishna Yeluri

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of placing a resorbable collagen barrier in impeding the extrusion of obturation material in primary molars undergoing resorption. Study design: All the 94 canals in 47 mandibular molars were allocated to 2 groups- Group ‘A’- 47 canals with collagen barrier (Test group) and Group ‘B’- 47 canals without collagen barrier (Control group) based on randomization protocol. Pulpectomy was performed and obturation of both test and control canals were radiographically assessed. Pearson’s chi – square test was applied to analyze the results. The significance level was predetermined at p &lt; 0.05. Results: Among the test group, 93.6% of the canals showed no extrusion while, 6.4% showed visible extrusion of the material outside the apex. In the control group, 83% showed no extrusion whereas 17% of the canals showed visible extrusion outside the apex. But no significant difference was noted (p&gt;0.05). Conclusion: The placement of resorbable collagen barrier in the apical third of the canal prevented the extrusion of obturating material beyond the apex in resorbing primary molars.


Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1499
Author(s):  
Zhiguo Liu ◽  
Guangming Xiang ◽  
Kui Xu ◽  
Jingjing Che ◽  
Changjiang Xu ◽  
...  

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is not only a valuable tool for understanding nuclear reprogramming, but it also facilitates the generation of genetically modified animals. However, the development of SCNT embryos has remained an uncontrollable process. It was reported that the SCNT embryos that complete the first cell division sooner are more likely to develop to the blastocyst stage, suggesting their better developmental competence. Therefore, to better understand the underlying molecular mechanisms, RNA-seq of pig SCNT embryos that were early-dividing (24 h postactivation) and late-dividing (36 h postactivation) was performed. Our analysis revealed that early- and late-dividing embryos have distinct RNA profiles, and, in all, 3077 genes were differentially expressed. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses revealed that early-dividing embryos exhibited higher expression in genes that participated in the meiotic cell cycle, while enrichment of RNA processing- and translation-related genes was found in late-dividing embryos. There are also fewer somatic memory genes such as FLRT2, ADAMTS1, and FOXR1, which are abnormally activated or suppressed in early-dividing cloned embryos. These results show that early-dividing SCNT embryos have different transcriptional profiles than late-dividing embryos. Early division of SCNT embryos may be associated with their better reprogramming capacity, and somatic memory genes may act as a reprogramming barrier in pig SCNT reprogramming.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuang Liang ◽  
Zheng-Wen Nie ◽  
Jing Guo ◽  
Ying-Jie Niu ◽  
Kyung-Tae Shin ◽  
...  

AbstractMicroRNA (miR)-29b plays a crucial role during somatic cell reprogramming. The aim of the current study was to explore the effects of miR-29b on the developmental competence of bovine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos, as well as the underlying mechanisms of action. The expression level of miR-29b was lower in bovine SCNT embryos at the pronuclear, 8-cell, and blastocyst stages compared within vitrofertilized embryos. In addition, miR-29b regulates the expression of DNA methyltransferases (Dnmt3a/3bandDnmt1) in bovine SCNT embryos. We further investigated SCNT embryo developmental competence and found that miR-29b overexpression during bovine SCNT embryonic development does not improve developmental potency and downregulation inhibits developmental potency. Nevertheless, the quality of bovine SCNT embryos at the blastocyst stage improved significantly. The expression of pluripotency factors and cellular proliferation were significantly higher in blastocysts from the miR-29b overexpression group than the control and downregulation groups. In addition, outgrowth potential in blastocysts after miR-29b overexpression was also significantly greater in the miR-29b overexpression group than in the control and downregulation groups. Taken together, these results demonstrated that miR-29b plays an important role in bovine SCNT embryo development.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 142 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Iwamoto ◽  
K. Saeki ◽  
S. Kishigami ◽  
A. Kasamatsu ◽  
A. Tatemizo ◽  
...  

Although cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has been achieved in various mammalian species, its efficiency has been very low (Han et al. 2003 Theriogenology 59, 33–44). Successful cloning requires conversion from differentiated donor nuclei to embryonic nuclei after transfer of the somatic nuclei into enucleated oocytes. Reprogramming of the transferred somatic nuclei must be completed by the time when normal activation of the embryonic genome occurs (Solter 2000 Nat. Rev. Genet. 1, 199–207). Recently, both full-term development and pre-implantation development of mouse SCNT embryos were significantly enhanced by treatment with trichostatin A (TSA), an inhibitor of histone deacetylase (Kishigami et al. 2006 Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 340, 183–189; Rybouchkin et al. 2006 Biol. Reprod. 74, 1083–1089). The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of TSA on the development of bovine SCNT embryos. Bovine fibroblasts were cultured under serum starvation (0.4% FCS) for 7 days and then used as donor cells. The cells were electro-fused with bovine enucleated matured oocytes, and activated with a calcium ionophore and cycloheximide. They were subsequently cultured in mSOF medium until 168 h post-activation (hpa). The NT embryos were exposed to 0 (control), 5, 50, and 500 nM TSA from the start of activation to 48 hpa. Experiments were repeated 3 times, and the data were analyzed with Fisher's PLSD test following ANOVA. The cleavage rates were the same among the groups (60 to 80&percnt;; P &gt;0.05). However, the blastocyst rate of NT embryos treated with 50 nM TSA was higher than that of control embryos (40&percnt; vs. 19&percnt;, respectively; P &lt; 0.05). On the other hand, the blastocyst rate was lower with 500 nM TSA than with 5 or 50 nM TSA (7&percnt; vs. 33&percnt; or 40&percnt;; P &lt; 0.05). These data suggest that proper TSA treatment after somatic cloning improves the rate of development of bovine cloned embryos to the blastocyst stage. Further research is needed to examine whether NT embryos derived from different cell lines or types have similar susceptibility to TSA.


2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 126
Author(s):  
X. Yang ◽  
J. Mao ◽  
E. M. Walters ◽  
M. T. Zhao ◽  
K. Lee ◽  
...  

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) efficiency in pigs and other species is still very low. This low efficiency and the occurrence of developmental abnormalities in offspring has been attributed to incomplete or incorrect reprogramming. Cytoplasmic extracts from both mammalian and amphibian oocytes can alter the epigenetic state of mammalian somatic nuclei as well as gene expression to more resemble that of pluripotent cells. Rathbone et al. (2010) has showed that pretreating somatic donor cells with frog oocyte extract (FOE) increased live birth in ovine. Liu et al. (2011) also reported that treating donor cells with FOE enhanced handmade clone embryo development in pigs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the early development of cloned embryos produced with porcine GFP fibroblasts pre-treated with a permeabilizing agent, digitonin and matured frog oocyte extract. Frog egg cytoplasmic extract was prepared from one frog's oocytes after being matured in vitro to MII stage. The experiment included 2 groups. In the FOE-treated group, GFP-tagged fetal fibroblasts were permeabilized by digitonin (15 ng mL–1) and incubated in FOE containing an ATP-regenerating system (2.5 mM ATP, 125 μM GTP, 62.5 μg mL–1 of creatine kinase, 25 mM phosphocreatine and 1 mM NTP) at room temperature (24°C) for 2 h; cell membranes were re-sealed by culturing in 10% FBS in DMEM media for 2.5 h at 38.5°C before used as donor cells. In the control group, the same donor cells were treated with digitonin, but without frog oocyte extract incubation. The SCNT embryos were produced by using the 2 groups of donor cells as described above. In total, 305 control and 492 FOE oocytes were enucleated from 8 biological replicates. Two hundred fifty control and 370 FOE couplets were fused and cultured in porcine zygote medium 3. Percent cleavage was recorded on Day 2 and the percent blastocyst formation was determined on Day 7 (SCNT day = 0). In addition, the number of nuclei in the blastocysts was recorded on Day 7. Percent fusion, cleavage, blastocyst formation and number of nuclei in blastocysts were analysed by using SAS software (v9.2), with day and treatment class as main effects. There was no difference in percent fusion (FOE, 76.2 ± 2.5% vs control, 80.8 ± 2.8%) or in cleavage (FOE: 74.8 ± 2.5% vs control: 74.6 ± 2.9%). Only green blastocysts with 16 or more nuclei were considered to be a true SCNT blastocyst. The percent blastocyst was higher in the FOE group than that in the control (13.9 ± 0.8% vs 9.5 ± 0.9%, P < 0.05), whereas the number of nuclei in the blastocysts was not different between the 2 groups (39.7 ± 2.4, 35.9 ± 3.8 for FOE and control, respectively). In conclusion, our study demonstrated that pre-treatment of donor cells with digitonin and Xenopus MII oocyte extract increased porcine SCNT embryo development to blastocyst and cloning efficiency. Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. 31071311), Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China (No. 2009J06017) and NIH U42 RR18877.


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