scholarly journals Cell lineage allocation in equine blastocysts produced in vitro under varying glucose concentrations

Reproduction ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 150 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Ho Choi ◽  
Pablo Ross ◽  
Isabel C Velez ◽  
B Macías-García ◽  
Fernando L Riera ◽  
...  

Equine embryos developin vitroin the presence of high glucose concentrations, but little is known about their requirements for development. We evaluated the effect of glucose concentrations in medium on blastocyst development after ICSI. In experiment 1, there were no significant differences in rates of blastocyst formation among embryos cultured in our standard medium (DMEM/F-12), which contained >16 mM glucose, and those cultured in a minimal-glucose embryo culture medium (<1 mM; Global medium, GB), with either 0 added glucose for the first 5 days, then 20 mM (0-20) or 20 mM for the entire culture period (20-20). In experiment 2, there were no significant differences in the rates of blastocyst development (31–46%) for embryos cultured in four glucose treatments in GB (0-10, 0-20, 5-10, or 5-20). Blastocysts were evaluated by immunofluorescence for lineage-specific markers. All cells stained positively forPOU5F1. An inner cluster of cells was identified that included presumptive primitive endoderm cells (GATA6-positive) and presumptive epiblast (EPI) cells. The 5-20 treatment resulted in a significantly lower number of presumptive EPI-lineage cells than the 0-20 treatment did.GATA6-positive cells appeared to be allocated to the primitive endoderm independent of the formation of an inner cell mass, as was previously hypothesized for equine embryos. These data demonstrate that equine blastocyst development is not dependent on high glucose concentrations during early culture; rather, environmental glucose may affect cell allocation. They also present the first analysis of cell lineage allocation inin vitro-fertilized equine blastocysts. These findings expand our understanding of the factors that affect embryo development in the horse.

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 723-731
Author(s):  
N.V. Sollecito ◽  
E.C.M. Pereira ◽  
J.G.V. Grázia ◽  
B.P. Neves ◽  
B.V.R. Couto ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the supplementation of embryo culture medium with antioxidant obtained from oily extract of Lippia origanoides on in vitro blastocyst development and quality. Oocytes collected from slaughterhouse ovaries were matured and fertilized in vitro following standard laboratory procedures. Zygotes were cultured in SOF medium supplemented according to the following treatments: T1 embryo culture medium without antioxidant supplementation; T2)50μM/mL Cysteamine; T3)2.5μg/mL; T4)5.0μg/mL and T5)10.0μg/mL of antioxidant obtained from oily extract of Lippia origanoides. On the seventh day of culture, the blastocysts were fixed and evaluated for apoptosis rates, number of total cell and inner cell mass cells by means of the TUNEL Test. The use of antioxidants during cultivation did not increase (P> 0.05) the final blastocyst production rate. The treatments T2, T3, T4 and T5 had the lowest (P< 0.05) apoptotic indexes (4.5±1.1%, 8.4±2.5%, 3.4±1.1% and 5.5±0.9%, respectively) when compared to T1 treatment (10.0±1.4%). The number of inner cell mass did not differ (P> 0.05) among embryos from different treatments. The addition of antioxidant obtained from oily extract of Lippia origanoides reduces the apoptosis rate and improves the quality without increasing the total in vitro production of bovine embryos.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marino Maemura ◽  
Hiroaki Taketsuru ◽  
Yuki Nakajima ◽  
Ruiqi Shao ◽  
Ayaka Kakihara ◽  
...  

AbstractIn multicellular organisms, oocytes and sperm undergo fusion during fertilization and the resulting zygote gives rise to a new individual. The ability of zygotes to produce a fully formed individual from a single cell when placed in a supportive environment is known as totipotency. Given that totipotent cells are the source of all multicellular organisms, a better understanding of totipotency may have a wide-ranging impact on biology. The precise delineation of totipotent cells in mammals has remained elusive, however, although zygotes and single blastomeres of embryos at the two-cell stage have been thought to be the only totipotent cells in mice. We now show that a single blastomere of two- or four-cell mouse embryos can give rise to a fertile adult when placed in a uterus, even though blastomere isolation disturbs the transcriptome of derived embryos. Single blastomeres isolated from embryos at the eight-cell or morula stages and cultured in vitro manifested pronounced defects in the formation of epiblast and primitive endoderm by the inner cell mass and in the development of blastocysts, respectively. Our results thus indicate that totipotency of mouse zygotes extends to single blastomeres of embryos at the four-cell stage.


Development ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-198
Author(s):  
R. L. Gardner

The technique of injecting genetically labelled cells into blastocysts was used in an attempt to determine whether the parietal and visceral endoderm originate from the same or different cell populations in the early embryo. When the developmental potential of 5th day primitive ectoderm and primitive endoderm cells was compared thus, only the latter were found to colonize the extraembryonic endoderm. Furthermore, single primitive endoderm cells yielded unequivocal colonization of both the parietal and the visceral endoderm in a proportion of chimaeras. However, in the majority of primitive endodermal chimaeras, donor cells were detected in the parietal endoderm only, cases of exclusively visceral colonization being rare. Visceral endoderm cells from 6th and 7th day post-implantation embryos also exhibited a striking tendency to contribute exclusively to the parietal endoderm following blastocyst injection. The above findings lend no support to a recent proposal that parietal and visceral endoderm are derived from different populations of inner cell mass cells. Rather, they suggest that the two extraembryonic endoderm layers originate from a common pool of primitive endoderm cells whose direction of differentiation depends on their interactions with non-endodermal cells.


Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Idrees ◽  
Lianguang Xu ◽  
Seok-Hwan Song ◽  
Myeong-Don Joo ◽  
Kyeong-Lim Lee ◽  
...  

This study was aimed to investigate the role of SHP2 (Src-homology-2-containing phosphotyrosine phosphatase) in intricate signaling networks invoked by bovine oocyte to achieve maturation and blastocyst development. PTPN11 (Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, non-receptor type 11) encoding protein SHP2, a positive transducer of RTKs (Receptor Tyrosine Kinases) and cytokine receptors, can play a significant role in bovine oocyte maturation and embryo development, but this phenomenon has not yet been explored. Here, we used different growth factors, cytokines, selective activator, and a specific inhibitor of SHP2 to ascertain its role in bovine oocyte developmental stages in vitro. We found that SHP2 became activated by growth factors and cytokines treatment and was highly involved in the activation of oocyte maturation and embryo development pathways. Activation of SHP2 triggered MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinases) and PI3K/AKT (Phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Protein kinase B) signaling cascades, which is not only important for GVBD (germinal vesical breakdown) induction but also for maternal mRNA translation. Inhibition of phosphatase activity of SHP2 with PHPS1 (Phenylhydrazonopyrazolone sulfonate 1) reduced oocytes maturation as well as bovine blastocyst ICM (inner cell mass) volume. Supplementation of LIF (Leukemia Inhibitory Factor) to embryos showed an unconventional direct relation between p-SHP2 and p-STAT3 (Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) for blastocyst ICM development. Other than growth factors and cytokines, cisplatin was used to activate SHP2. Cisplatin activated SHP2 modulate growth factors effect and combine treatment significantly enhanced quality and rate of developed blastocysts.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Y. S. Bogliotti ◽  
J. Wu ◽  
M. Vilariño ◽  
K. Suzuki ◽  
J. C. Belmonte ◽  
...  

Embryonic stem cells (ESC) are derived from the inner cell mass (ICM) of preimplantation blastocysts. To date, it has been challenging to establish pluripotent ESC lines for domestic animals, which could be important for biotechnological applications, such as genetic engineering and SCNT, and biomedical research. The aim of this work was to derive and characterise bovine embryonic stem-like cells (bESC) from in vitro-produced bovine blastocysts. Embryos were produced by in vitro fertilization of in vitro-matured oocytes aspirated from abattoir ovaries and cultured in groups of 25 in 50-μL drops of KSOM (Evolve, Zenith Biotech) with 4 mg mL−1 BSA for 7 days until they reached the blastocyst stage (Ross et al., 2009 Reproduction 137, 427–437). At that point, the zona pellucida (ZP) was removed using 1 mg mL−1 Pronase (Sigma, St. Louis, MO), and ZP-free blastocysts were washed 6 times in SOF-HEPES. Three derivation approaches were tested: ZP-free whole blastocysts, mechanically isolated ICM, and immunosurgery-derived ICM. In each case, individual blastocysts/ICM were placed in 1 well of a 12-well dish seeded with a monolayer of mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEF) and cultured in mTeSR1 basal medium (without growth factors) supplemented with 20 ng mL−1 FGF2 and 2.5 μM IWR1 (CTFR) (Wu et al. 2015 Nature 521, 316–321). After 48 h, blastocysts/ICM that failed to adhere were physically pressed against the bottom of the culture dish with a 22-gauge needle under a stereoscope to aid attachment. Thereafter, the media was changed daily. Outgrowths (after 6–7 days in culture) were dissociated and passaged using TrypLE and re-seeded in the presence of ROCK inhibitor (Y-27632, 10 μM) onto newly prepared wells containing MEF. Established bESC lines were cultured on MEF and passaged every 4 to 5 days at a 1:10 split ratio. The bESC lines were characterised by immunofluorescence (IF), RNA-seq, and teratoma formation. The efficiency of cell line derivation (evaluated at passage 3) was similar for the 3 approaches: whole blastocysts (9/16, 56.3%), mechanical ICM isolation (7/12, 58.3%), and immunosurgical ICM isolation (7/16, 43.8%). The bESC were passaged and cultured long-term (more than 15 passages) and were subjected to several rounds of freezing and thawing while retaining their morphology and characteristics. IF analysis showed that long-term cultured bESC expressed the markers SOX2 and OCT4 (pluripotency), but did not express CDX2 (trophectoderm) or GATA6 (primitive endoderm). RNAseq analysis of 2 bESC lines showed that ICM markers (POU5F1, NANOG, SOX2, LIN28B, DNAMT3B, UTF1, SALL4) were expressed (RPKM > 0.4), while trophectoderm markers (CDX2, GATA2, GATA3, FGF4, TFAP2A) and primitive endoderm markers (GATA6, HNF4A) were not expressed (RPKM < 0.4). Finally, bESC lines (n = 2) were able to form teratomas in immunodeficient mice. The teratomas contained tissues representative of the 3 germ lineages and expressed lineage-specific markers (ectoderm: TUJ1, endoderm: FOXA2, and mesoderm: ASM). In conclusion, the culture condition used in this work (CTFR) enables robust derivation and long-term in vitro propagation of pluripotent bESC.


2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 144
Author(s):  
P. Kasinathan ◽  
M.F. Nichols ◽  
J.E. Griffin ◽  
J.M. Robl

Chimeras have been used for investigating fundamental aspects of early embryonic development, and differentiation, and for introducing foreign genes into mammals (Robertson et al., 1986 Nature 323, 445–448; Cibelli et al., 1998 Science 280, 1256–1258). The main objective of this study was to determine if the transfer of blastomeres from in vitro-produced (IVP) embryos into cloned, transchromosomic embryos improved the efficiency of producing transchromosomic calves. Cloned embryos were produced using in vitro-matured bovine oocytes and bovine fetal fibroblasts containing a human artificial chromosome (HAC) (Kuroiwa et al., 2002 Nat Biotechnol 20, 889–894). IVP embryos were produced using standard procedures and blastomeres were harvested at the 8–16 cell stage by removing the zona pellucida with protease. Cloned embryos were randomly divided on Day 4 into two groups. One group received 3–4 IVP blastomeres while a second group served as a control (nonmanipulated cloned embryos). After transferring the blastomeres, the chimeric and cloned embryos were placed in culture (Kasinathan et al., 2001 Biol. Reprod. 64, 1487–1493) and on Day 7 development to the blastocyst stage was evaluated. Grades 1 and 2 embryos were transferred; two each per synchronized recipient. Pregnancy maintenance, calving, and calf survival were evaluated in both groups. Presence of a HAC in live calves was evaluated in both fibroblasts and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) using FISH analysis. Embryo development to the blastocyst stage, maintenance of pregnancy and number of calves born were analyzed using Chi-square. There were no differences in the rate of blastocyst development at day 7 or establishment of pregnancy at 40d (P&gt;0.05). However, pregnancy rate at 120d, and number of calves that developed to term and were alive at birth (chimera 14/54 and clone 4/90), and at 1 month of age (chimera 13/54 and clone 1/90) were lower (P&lt;0.01) for cloned embryos. The proportion of cells containing an HAC in PBLs, was higher in cloned calves (100%) compared to chimeric calves (26%). The HAC retension rates in PBLs in HAC-positive chimeric and cloned calves were 84% and 95%, respectively. These data indicate that, although the proportion of calves retaining an HAC was lower in chimeras compared to clones, more HAC-positive calves were produced in the chimeric treatment from fewer cloned embryos. We speculate that higher rates of development in the chimeras may be related to the normality of the placenta. Future studies will be required to determine the contribution of the IVP blastomeres to both the inner cell mass and trophectoderm. Therefore, a chimeric approach may be useful for improving the efficiency of producing cloned transchromosomic calves.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia K. Wooldridge ◽  
Alan D. Ealy

Previous work determined that bovine interleukin-6 (IL6) increases inner cell mass (ICM), primitive endoderm (PE), and total cell number in in vitro produced (IVP) bovine blastocysts. Another IL6 family member, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), has the potential to produce the same effects of IL6 due to the presence of its receptor in bovine blastocysts. We compared the abilities of LIF and IL6 to increase ICM cell numbers in day 7, 8, and 9 IVP bovine blastocysts. Supplementation with 100 ng/ml LIF from day 5 onward improved blastocyst formation rates on days 7 and 8 similar to what was observed when supplementing 100 ng/ml IL6. However, LIF supplementation did not cause an increase in ICM numbers like was observed after supplementing IL6. On day 9, increases in PE cell numbers were detected after LIF supplementation, but 300 ng/ml LIF was required to achieve the same effect on PE numbers that was observed by providing 100 ng/ml IL6. Collectively, these results show that LIF can mimic at least some of the effects of IL6 in bovine blastocyst.


2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
I. M. Saadeldin ◽  
B. H. Kim ◽  
B. Roibas da Torre ◽  
O. J. Koo ◽  
G. Jang ◽  
...  

Nuclear transfer (NT) has been used to produce many cloned offspring using several types of cells, including embryonic cells. Even though inner cell mass cells have been used as donor karyoplast for producing cloned animals, there are few studies using trophoblast. In mice, clones were born by nuclear transfer of trophoblasts from the expanded blastocyst into enucleated oocytes as a trial to show the totipotency of both inner cell mass and trophectoderm cells isolated from blastocysts (Tsunoda and Kato 1998 J. Reprod. Fertil. 113, 181–184). However, bovine trophoblast cell (TC) lines have not been used in NT to date. The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether TC as donor cell can be reprogrammed in bovine enucleated oocyte and determine the relative abundance of interferon tau (IFNτ) expression in the resulting cloned preimplantational embryos. Hatched blastocysts produced by IVF were used to isolate TCs on mouse embryonic fibroblasts treated with mitomycin C as feeder cells. TCs and adult fibroblasts (AF, control group for NT) were microinjected to perivitelline space of in vitro mature enucleated oocytes and electrically fused. Reconstructed embryos were chemically activated and cultured in a 2-step chemically defined medium. Levels of IFNτ expression in IVF-, TC-, and AF-derived blastocysts were analyzed using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). IVF produced embryos were used as reference to analyze the linear progressive expression of IFNτ through mid-, expanded, and hatching blastocysts. As a result, TCs expressing IFNτ were successfully isolated and cultured on feeder layers. It grew as cell sheets of cuboidal epithelium with high proliferation capacity as a single colony originated from a small clump of cells measured 0.5 cm within 7 days of culture. TCs were reprogrammed in the enucleated oocytes to blastocyst with similar efficiency to AF (14.5% and 15.6%, respectively; P ≤ 0.05). RT-qPCR studies showed that IFNτ expression was higher in TC-derived blastocysts than IVF- and AF-derived blastocysts. Both IVF- and TC-derived blastocysts, showed progressive increase of IFNτ expression through the advancement of blastocyst development when it was compared to AF-derived blastocysts. In conclusion, using TCs expressing IFNτ as donor cell for bovine NT could increase the developmental competence of cloned embryos as indicated by progressive linear increase in IFNτ expression. This study was supported by grants from IPET (#109023-05-1-CG000), NRF (#M10625030005-10N250300510), MKE (#2009-67-10033839, #2009-67-10033805), and BK21 program. Saadeldin I. M. is supported by Islamic Development Bank (IDB) merit scholarship, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 156
Author(s):  
V. Najafzadeh ◽  
R. Martinus ◽  
B. Oback

Pluripotency relies on species-specific amino acid (AA) metabolism. In the mouse, inner cell mass (ICM) and ICM-derived pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) need threonine, which is catabolized by threonine dehydrogenase (TDH) into acetyl–CoA and glycine. Depleting (Δ) the culture medium of threonine (ΔT) or blocking TDH activity induces PSC death. By contrast, human PSCs do not survive without lysine (ΔK), leucine (ΔL), or methionine (ΔM). Since isolated bovine PSCs cannot be propagated in vitro, we screened for AAs that selectively support pluripotent ICM cells in intact bovine embryos. Five days (D5) post-IVF, embryos were transferred into glutamine-free synthetic oviduct fluid (gSOF) with Eagle’s nonessential (NE) and essential (E) AAs (gSOF_AA) plus BSA. Embryos were individually cultured until D8 under different conditions. Statistical significance was determined using Fisher’s exact test for blastocyst development (morphological grading to IETS standard) and t-tests for cell numbers (differential stain) and gene expression (quantitative or qPCR). Removal of BSA reduced grade 1–3 blastocyst (B1–3) development (37% v. 25%, n = 3; P < 0.001). Depleting NEAAs from gSOF_AA did not significantly decrease B1–3, but depleting all 12 EAAs did (25% v. 8%, n = 6; P < 0.001). Because ΔEAA was most effective, we focused on this. Experiments were conducted in gSOF+NEAA and compared with gSOF_AA as a positive control (n = 2–6 replicates). One (ΔT, ΔM), two (ΔMT, ΔCM, ΔCT; ΔIL, ΔIK, ΔKL), three (ΔCMT, ΔIKL), or six (ΔHPRVWY) EAA drop-out did not affect blastocyst formation, even when NEAAs were also removed for ΔT and ΔM groups (n = 3). However, depleting another six (ΔCIKLMT), nine (+CMT, +IKL), or eleven EAAs (+T, +M) increasingly compromised B1–3 (P < 0.05). Because no clear EAA candidates emerged from the screen, we focused on TDH. TDH mRNA was present at similar levels in microsurgically isolated (by microblade) trophectoderm (TE) and chemically isolated (by Triton X-100) ICM, but undetectable in five adult tissues. Despite ΔT medium showing no effect, exposure to the TDH inhibitor QC1 (50 µM) reduced B1–3 and B1–2 compared with a dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solvent control (25% v. 37% and 8% v. 19%, n = 8; P < 0.005). ICM and TE cell numbers were equally reduced in QC1 v. DMSO-treated blastocysts (10 v. 19 and 37 v. 67 with N = 21 and N = 29 embryos, respectively, n = 3; P < 0.005). Yet TDH, hypoblast (PDGRFα), epiblast (NANOG, FGF4, SOX2), and trophoblast (CDX2, KRT8) markers were not consistently affected by QC1. We next applied 3-hydroxynorvaline (3-HNV), which TDH hydrolyses into glycine and propionyl-CoA instead of acetyl-CoA. Compared with solvent controls, 3-HNV (300 µM) killed all embryos and bovine fetal fibroblasts within 3 days in ΔT medium. This toxic effect was fully rescued by >10-fold T-supplementation. Thus, 3-HNV protein incorporation, rather than acetyl-CoA reduction, may nonspecifically impair cellular function. In summary, we found that bovine ICM formation did not specifically depend on metabolizing threonine or any other single EAA. Research was supported by AgResearch Core Funding.


2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (No. 12) ◽  
pp. 473-482
Author(s):  
Sang Hwan Kim ◽  
Jong Taek Yoon

In this study, we examined whether serum-free and serum-containing media affect matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity with respect to embryonic development, and whether MMP expression is correlated with the development of in vitro fertilized eggs. When oocytes were cultured in serum-free medium (containing polyvinylpyrrolidone) and serum (foetal bovine serum)-containing medium, the generation of meiosis 2 (MII) oocytes was 76% and 87.5%, respectively (P &lt; 0.05). After in vitro fertilization using mature oocytes, we observed 39.72% and 64.05% of cleaved oocytes in serum-free and serum-containing groups, respectively (P &lt; 0.05). Our analysis revealed differential expression and activity of MMPs. The serum-containing group showed high MMP-9 activity during oocyte maturation and development of in vitro produced embryos, with particularly high activity in the inner cell mass zone of the embryos. Therefore, this study suggests that the presence or the absence of serum will affect the activity of MMPs, which can be used to measure the rate of embryonic development.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document