Cleavage rate of mouse embryos in vivo and in vitro

Development ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-207
Author(s):  
Patricia Bowman ◽  
Anne McLaren

Mouse embryos (Q strain) developing in vivo from the 2-cell to the blastocyst stage showed a constant cell doubling time of about 10 h. Embryos cultured in vitro over the same period showed a rate of cleavage which was initially almost as great as in the reproductive tract, but subsequently declined to give a doubling time of about 24 h. Addition of oestrogen to the culture medium increased the diameter of blastocysts but did not increase cell number.

Development ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-217
Author(s):  
Janet L. Wiebold ◽  
Gary B. Anderson

2- to 4-cell and morula- to blastocyst-stage mouse embryos were cultured for 1 h in tritiated leucine at two specific activities and their subsequent development followed in vitro and in vivo (after transfer to recipients), respectively. 2- to 4-cell embryos that incorporated an average of 42 d.p.m. per embryo were impaired in their ability to develop to the morula and blastocyst stage. Recipients receiving morulae and blastocysts that had incorporated an average of 384 d.p.m. per embryo failed to produce young. Reduction of the specific activity improved the viability of embryos both in vitro and in vivo but development was still less than that of unlabelled embryos. Protein degradation curves were different for both 2- to 4-cell and morulato blastocyst-stage embryos labelled at the two different specific activities. Most studies using tritiated amino acids have employed higher specific activities than those used here and they may have to be reevaluated due to the possibility of radiation-induced artifacts.


Development ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-225
Author(s):  
E. Lehtonen ◽  
R. A. Badley

The immunofluorescence technique was used to detect the presence and distribution of actin, alpha-actinin, tubulin and 10 nm filament protein in early mouse embryos. Actin and alpha-actinin stainings showed a distinct concentration to a peripheral layer in the cleavage-stage blastomeres and in trophectoderm cells. Dots of fluorescence appeared in this cortical staining pattern. The distribution of tubulin staining in the blastomere cytoplasm was relatively even with apparent concentration at the perinuclear region and frequently at wide intercellular contact areas. 10 nm filament protein was distributed evenly in the blastomere cytoplasm without cortical concentration of the label. At the blastocyst stage, the trophectoderm cells in blastocyst outgrowths in vitro developed well organized cytoskeletons including both microfilament, microtubule and 10 nm filament elements. Comparable structures were not observed in blastocysts in vivo, or in late hatched blastocysts cultured in suspension. The morphogenetic significance of the observations is discussed.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 248
Author(s):  
S.-G. Lee ◽  
C.-H. Park ◽  
D.-H. Choi ◽  
H.-Y. Son ◽  
C.-K. Lee

Use of blastocysts produced in vitro would be an efficient way to generate embryonic stem (ES) cells for the production of transgenic animals and the study of developmental gene regulation. In pigs, the morphology and cell number of in vitro-produced blastocysts are inferior to these parameters in their in vivo counterparts. Therefore, establishment of ES cells from blastocysts produced in vitro might be hindered by poor embryo quality. The objective of this study was to increase the cell number of blastocysts derived by aggregating 4–8-cell stage porcine embryos produced in vitro. Cumulus–oocyte complexes were collected from prepubertal gilt ovaries, and matured in vitro. Embryos at the 4–8-cell stage were produced by culturing embryos for two days after in vitro fertilization (IVF). After removal of the zona pellucida with acid Tyrode’s solution, one (1X), two (2X), and three (3X) 4–8-cell stage embryos were aggregated by co-culturing them in aggregation plates followed by culturing to the blastocyst stage. After 7 days, the developmental ability and the number of cells in aggregated embryos were determined by staining with Hoechst 33342 and propidium iodide. The percentage of blastocysts was higher in both 2X and 3X aggregated embryos compared to that of 1X and that of intact controls (Table 1). The cell number of blastocysts also increased in aggregated embryos compared to that of non-aggregated (1X) embryos and controls. This result suggests that aggregation might improve the quality of in vitro-fertilized porcine blastocysts by increasing cell numbers, thus becoming a useful resource for isolation and establishment of porcine ES cells. Further studies are required to investigate the quality of the aggregated embryos in terms of increasing the pluripotent cell population by staining for Oct-4 and to apply improved aggregation methods in nuclear-transferred (NT) porcine embryos. Table 1. Development, cell number, and ICM ratio of aggregated porcine embryos


Reproduction ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 159 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Cui ◽  
Agnes Cheong ◽  
Yongsheng Wang ◽  
Yuran Tsuchida ◽  
Yong Liu ◽  
...  

Microspherule protein 1 (MCRS1, also known as MSP58) is an evolutionarily conserved protein that has been implicated in various biological processes. Although a variety of functions have been attributed to MCRS1 in vitro, mammalian MCRS1 has not been studied in vivo. Here we report that MCRS1 is essential during early murine development. Mcrs1 mutant embryos exhibit normal morphology at the blastocyst stage but cannot be recovered at gastrulation, suggesting an implantation failure. Outgrowth (OG) assays reveal that mutant blastocysts do not form a typical inner cell mass (ICM) colony, the source of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Surprisingly, cell death and histone H4 acetylation analysis reveal that apoptosis and global H4 acetylation are normal in mutant blastocysts. However, analysis of lineage specification reveals that while the trophoblast and primitive endoderm are properly specified, the epiblast lineage is compromised and exhibits a severe reduction in cell number. In summary, our study demonstrates the indispensable role of MCRS1 in epiblast development during early mammalian embryogenesis.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 256
Author(s):  
W. J. Son ◽  
M. K. B. ◽  
Y. J. Jeong ◽  
S. Balasubramanian ◽  
S. Y. Choe ◽  
...  

Various factors are known to influence the survival and development of in vitro-produced embryos, including co-culture with somatic cells, antioxidants, and O2 tension. Studies in several species report that embryo development and quality were enhanced at low O2 concentrations. This study compared the effects of 2 O2 concentrations on IVP embryo development, embryo quality, and gene expression to those of in vivo counterparts. Cumulus–oocyte complexes were matured in vitro in TCM-199 with hormones and 10% FCS, and inseminated in TALP medium. Presumptive zygotes were cultured in SOF medium under either 5% or 20% O2 in air. In triplicate, sets of 5 embryos at the 2-cell, 4-cell, 8-cell, 16-cell, morula, and Day 7 blastocyst stages were used for analyzing the expression patterns of apoptotic (Bax and Bcl2), metabolism (Glut-1 and Glut-5), stress (Sox, Hsp70, and G6PDH), compaction (Cx43), oxidation (PRDX5, NADH, and MnSOD), and implantation (VEGF and IFN-tau) genes using real-time quantitative PCR. The expression of each gene was normalized to that of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Statistical analysis was performed with Bonferroni and Duncan tests by ANOVA (P < 0.05). Cleavage rates did not differ among groups. Blastocyst and hatched blastocyst development in 5% O2 was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than in 20% O2. Total cell number of in vivo blastocysts was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of IVP blastocysts. ICM ratio and apoptosis of in vivo blastocysts were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than for IVP blastocysts. The relative abundances (RAs) of Glut-1, Glut-5, MnSOD, NADH, PRDX5, Cx43, Bcl2, and IFN-τ were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in in vivo embryos, whereas the RAs of Sox, G6PDH, Hsp70, Bax, and VEGF were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than for IVP counterparts. In conclusion, culture at 5% O2 concentration resulted in higher rates of development to the blastocyst stage, higher total cell numbers, and decreased apoptosis. Furthermore, differences in expression of genes including Glut-1, Glut-5, Sox, G6PDH, Hsp70, Bax, Bcl2, Cx43, PRDX5, NADH, MnSOD, VEGF, and IFN-τ may prove useful in determining optimal culture conditions. This work was supported by ARPC (204119-03-SB010), Republic of Korea.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 215
Author(s):  
W. C. Chen ◽  
J. Zhu ◽  
P. Fisher ◽  
D. Amarnath ◽  
K. H. S. Campbell

In vitro maturation of porcine oocytes is characterized by a high level of asynchrony between oocytes. Previous studies reported that cycloheximide (CHX) and 3′, 5′-cyclic AMP (cAMP) synchronize porcine oocytes and improve development to blastocyst stage following IVF or have been used for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) (Ye et al. 2005 Biol. Reprod. 72(2), 399–406; Betthauser et al. 2000 Nat. Biotechnol. 18(10), 1055–1059). We previously reported that cAMP was more effective than CHX in synchronizing porcine oocyte maturation, producing MII oocytes in a shorter time window and providing a more homogenous population for future SCNT studies (Chen et al. 2008 SRF conference, 2008 abst, p34). Here we compared parthenogenetic development of porcine oocytes synchronized by these two treatments. Selected cumulus–oocyte complexes (COC) obtained from slaughtered gilts were randomly divided into three groups and cultured at 39°C, 5% CO2 in air in modified NCSU-23 medium (with 1 μm glutathione, 1 mm cysteine, 5 mg L–1 insulin, 10 ng mL–1 epidermal growth factor, 10% (v/v) porcine follicular fluid, 1% essential and 0.5% nonessential amino acids) ± hormones (10 IU mL–1 PMSG and 10 IU mL–1 hCG): (1) with hormones for the first 22 h and then without hormones until 44 h; (2) with hormones and 5 μg mL–1 CHX for 12 h, and then with hormones but no CHX until 44 h; (3) with hormones and 1 mm cAMP for 22 h, and then without hormones and cAMP until 44 h. Parthenogenetic development of cycloheximide and cAMP treated oocytes was compared by cleavage rate at 48 h postactivation (hpa) and blastocyst formation at 168 hpa. No significant differences were observed in the frequency of cleavage (96.7 ± 2.1% v. 81.4 ± 11.6% v. 84.5 ± 5.7%), development to blastocyst (28.3 ± 11.4% v. 27.1 ± 5.7% v. 32.8 ± 5.3%) between control, CHX or cAMP treated oocytes, respectively (chi-square test, P > 0.05). However, total cell number was significantly higher in the CHX group than cAMP group (42.7 ± 4.1 v. 31.8 ± 2.0, respectively; t-test, P < 0.05). The results demonstrate that synchronization of porcine oocytes by treatment with CHX or cAMP does not affect subsequent parthenogenetic development if judged by the blastocyst formation, although the meaning of the difference of total cell numbers between CHX and cAMP treatments is still unclear.


Reproduction ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 138 (3) ◽  
pp. 507-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Clemente ◽  
J de La Fuente ◽  
T Fair ◽  
A Al Naib ◽  
A Gutierrez-Adan ◽  
...  

The steroid hormone progesterone (P4) plays a key role in the reproductive events associated with pregnancy establishment and maintenance. High concentrations of circulating P4 in the immediate post-conception period have been associated with an advancement of conceptus elongation, an associated increase in interferon-τ production and higher pregnancy rates in cattle. Using in vitro and in vivo models and ∼8500 bovine oocytes across six experiments, the aim of this study was to establish the route through which P4 affects bovine embryo development in vitro and in vivo. mRNA for P4 receptors was present at all stages of embryo development raising the possibility of a direct effect of P4 on the embryo. Exposure to P4 in vitro in the absence or presence of oviduct epithelial cells did not affect the proportion of embryos developing to the blastocyst stage, blastocyst cell number or the relative abundance of selected transcripts in the blastocyst. Furthermore, exposure to P4 in vitro did not affect post-hatching elongation of the embryo following transfer to synchronized recipients and recovery on Day 14. By contrast, transfer of in vitro derived blastocysts to a uterine environment previously primed by elevated P4 resulted in a fourfold increase in conceptus length on Day 14. These data provide clear evidence to support the hypothesis that P4-induced changes in the uterine environment are responsible for the advancement in conceptus elongation reported previously in cattle and that, interestingly, the embryo does not need to be present during the period of high P4 in order to exhibit advanced elongation.


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.


1982 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 187 ◽  
Author(s):  
GM Harlow ◽  
P Quinn

The culture conditions for the development in vitro of (C57BL/6 X CBA) F2 hybrid two-cell embryos to the blastocyst stage have been optimized. Commercially available pre-sterile disposable plastic culture dishes supported more reliable development than re-usable washed glass tubes. The presence of an oil layer reduced the variability in development. An average of 85 % of blastocysts developed from hybrid two-cell embryos cultured in drops of Whitten's medium under oil in plastic culture dishes in an atmosphere of 5% O2 : 5% CO2 : 90% N2 ? The time taken for the total cell number to double in embryos developing in vivo was 10 h, and in cultured embryos 17 h. Embryos cultured in vitro from the two-cell stage to blastocyst stage were retarded by 18-24 h in comparison with those remaining in vivo. Day-4 blastocysts in vivo contained 25-70 cells (mean 50) with 7-28 (mean 16) of these in the inner cell mass. Cultured blastocysts contained 19-73 cells (mean 44) with 8-34 (mean 19) of these in the inner cell mass. In the uterine environment, inner-cell-mass blastomeres divided at a faster rate than trophectoderm blastomeres and it is suggested that a long cell cycle is associated with terminal differentiation. Although cultured blastocysts and inner cell masses contained the same number of cells as blastocysts and inner cell masses in vivo, the rate of cell division in cultured inner cell masses was markedly reduced.


2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 162
Author(s):  
S. Akagi ◽  
B. Tsuneishi ◽  
S. Watanabe ◽  
S. Takahashi

It has been reported that aggregation of two nuclear transfer (NT) mouse embryos shows an improvement in full-term development (Boiani M et al. 2003 EMBO J. 22, 5304–5312). In this study, we examined the effect of aggregation on in vitro development of bovine NT embryos. As donor cells for NT, cumulus cells of passage 3–5 were used following culture in serum-starved medium for 5–7 days. NT was performed as previously described (Akagi S et al. 2003 Mol. Reprod. Dev. 66, 264–272). NT embryos were cultured in a serum-free medium (IVD-101, Research Institute of Functional Peptide Co., Ltd., Shimojo, Yamagat, Japan). Eight-cell-stage embryos on Day 2 or 16- to 32-cell-stage embryos on day 4 were used for embryo aggregation after removal of the zona pellucida. A small depression was made in a 25-μL drop of TCM-199 with 50 μg/mL phytohemagglutinin (TCM199/PHA) or IVD-101 using a darning needle. Two or three NT embryos were placed into the depression in the drop of TCM199/PHA for 20 min. NT aggregates were then moved into the depression in the drop of IVD-101 and cultured until Day 7. In vitro development of NT aggregates was summarized in Table 1. There were no differences in the cell number and ICM ratio of blastocysts between non-aggregated zona-intact and zona-free embryos. All aggregates of three NT embryos developed to the blastocyst stage and the cell number of these blastocysts was significantly higher than that of non-aggregated NT blastocysts. These results indicate that removal of the zona pellucida does not affect the cell number and ICM ratio of blastocysts and that aggregates of three NT embryos can develop to blastocysts with high cell numbers which are equivalent to in vivo-derived embryos (166 ± 11, Knijn HM et al. 2003 Biol. Reprod. 69, 1371–1378). Table 1. Development, cell number, and ICM ratio of NT aggregates


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