scholarly journals 138 THE EFFECT OF SYNTHETIC HYALURONAN, BSA AND SERUM ON IN VITRO DEVELOPMENT AND GENE TRANSCRIPTION OF BOVINE BLASTOCYSTS

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 219
Author(s):  
A. Gutiérrez-Adán ◽  
H. Rodriguez-Martinez ◽  
P. Beltrán Breña ◽  
J. De la Fuente ◽  
A.T. Palasz

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of synthetic hyaluronan (s-HA), BSA and fetal calf serum (FCS) on bovine embryo in vitro development, ultrastructure, and mRNA transcription of four developmentally important genes: apoptosis (BAX), oxidative stress (SOX), growth factor (IGF-II), and cell-to-cell adhesion (Ecad). A total of 1406 presumptive zygotes (7 replicates) were cultured initially in two Groups: 1, SOFaa + 4% BSA only, and 2, SOFaa + 4% BSA and 10% FCS. On Day 4 (96 h after insemination) of culture, the number of zygotes that developed to the <8-cell-stage were recorded, and 2.5 mg/mL of s-HA (MAP-5; Bioniche Inc, Belleville, ON, Canada) was added to half of the embryos from each group; the other half received an equivalent volume of corresponding SOF medium without s-HA. Embryos were cultured in 50-μL drops (25 zygotes per drop) under paraffin oil at 39°C and 5% CO2 in humidified air. Cleavage rates were recorded on Day 2 and the number of blastocysts on Days 7, 8, and 9. At least five blastocysts from each replicate and from each treatment were frozen for evaluation of gene expression patterns. Poly(A) mRNA was prepared from 4–5 groups of pools of 10 embryos. The quantification of all gene transcripts was performed by real time quantitative RT-PCR in three replicates. The fine structure of blastocysts was studied using transmission electron microscopy. Embryo developmental stages and blastocyst formation were analyzed by chi-square analysis, and data on mRNA expression were analyzed by one-way repeated-measures ANOVA. No differences in cleavage rates were observed between groups. There was no difference between the BSA group with or without s-HA in the percentages of embryos developed to the blastocyst stage at Days 7, 8, and 9 (38.3 and 38.1%, respectively). However, significantly (P < 0.05) less blastocysts developed in medium supplemented with BSA + FCS (18.3%) or with BSA + FCS + s-HA (27.4%). Synthetic HA added to the medium containing BSA significantly (P < 0.05) increased the level of expression of EGF-II and decreased (P < 0.05) the level of expression of BAX, SOX, and Ecad. On the other hand, presence of FCS significantly (P < 0.05) increased the level of SOX and decreased the level of IGF-II (P < 0.05), and the addition of s-HA to SOF containing FCS showed no effect on the level of transcription of any analyzed genes. The general fine structure of embryos cultured with s-HA regardless of protein supplement was conspicuously improved in comparison with the respective controls. It can be concluded that, within our culture system, addition of s-HA on Day 4 of culture to the SOFaa medium supplemented with BSA but not in combination with FCS showed a positive effect on embryo development and molecular composition of the embryos.

2006 ◽  
Vol 73 (12) ◽  
pp. 1503-1511 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Palasz ◽  
H. Rodriguez-Martinez ◽  
P. Beltran-Breña ◽  
S. Perez-Garnelo ◽  
M. F. Martinez ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 114
Author(s):  
Y. Du ◽  
Z. Yang ◽  
B. Lv ◽  
L. Lin ◽  
P. M. Kragh ◽  
...  

Delayed activation is commonly used in pig somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) where electrical activation is followed by chemical activation. However, chemical incubation of several hours (up to 4 or 6) is logistically not very convenient even though handmade cloning (HMC) could improve the overall efficiency of pig cloning (Du et al. 2007 Theriogenology 68, 1104–1110). It was reported that a brief exposure of cycloheximide (CX) before electrical activation could significantly increase developmental rate and total blastocyst cell number when simultaneous activation was performed in micromanipulator-based pig cloning (Naruse et al. 2007 Theriogenology 68, 709–716). The purpose of our present work is to investigate whether such activation method is also applicable for pig HMC. Data were analyzed by t-test using SPSS (11.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). After 42 h in vitro maturation, cumulus cells were removed. In vitro-cultured porcine fetal fibroblasts were used as donor cells. Cytoplast-fibroblast pairing, electrical fusion and activation of fused cytoplast-fibroblast pairs were performed as described previously (Kragh et al. 2005 Theriogenology 64, 1536–1545; Du et al. 2005 Cloning Stem Cells 7, 199–205). Three groups were compared due to different activation protocol. In Group 1 (control), reconstructed embryos were cultured in porcine zygote medium 3 (PZM3) supplemented with 4 mg mL–1 BSA, 5 μg mL–1 cytochalasin B (CB), and 10 μg mL–1 CX for 4 h. In Group 2 (CX priming), fused pairs and the other halves of cytoplasts were incubated in HEPES-buffered TCM-199 medium supplemented with 10% calf serum, 10 μg mL–1 CX for 10 min just before the second fusion or electrical activation. In Group 3 (CB + CX priming), treatment similar to Group 2 was performed except that additional 5 μg mL–1 CB was added for the 10-min incubation. Reconstructed embryos were in vitro cultured in the well of the well (WOW) system for 6 days. Blastocyst rates and total cell numbers of Day 6 blastocysts were evaluated. As illustrated in Table 1, embryos pretreated with both CB and CX gave the best results, with better blastocyst formation (53.8 ± 4.8%; mean ± SEM) and higher cell number (77.2 ± 5.4) compared to the other 2 groups. Our data suggested that CX and CB priming could be used as a solution to the long chemical incubation in porcine SCNT by HMC, making the embryos more receptive to electrical activation. Table 1.In vitro development of HMC reconstructed embryos with different activation protocols


2000 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 414-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd A. Davies ◽  
Bonifacio E. Dewasse ◽  
Michael R. Jacobs ◽  
Peter C. Appelbaum

ABSTRACT The ability of 50 sequential subcultures in subinhibitory concentrations of telithromycin (HMR 3647), azithromycin, clarithromycin, erythromycin A, roxithromycin, clindamycin, and pristinamycin to select for resistance was studied in five macrolide-susceptible and six macrolide-resistant pneumococci containing mefE or ermB. Telithromycin selected for resistance less often than the other drugs.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 187
Author(s):  
J. De la Fuente ◽  
A. Gutiérrez-Adán ◽  
P. Beltrán Breña ◽  
S. S. Pérez-Garnelo ◽  
A. T. Palasz

It is assumed that, contrary to phosphate buffers, zwitterionic buffers are neutral. However, zwitterionic buffers containing hydroxymethyl or hydroxyethyl residues may interact with OH-groups in the media and produce formaldehyde (Shiraishi et al. 1993 Free Radic. Res. Commun. 19, 315-321). Also, it was shown that three zwitterionic buffers tested in this study interact with DNA (Stellwagen et al. 2000 Anal. Biochem. 287, 167-175). Our objective was to evaluate the effect of the following buffers: TES (T), MOPS (M), HEPES (H) (pKa values at 20�C: 7.2-7.5), and PBS on in vitro development and morphology of bovine embryos. Zwitterionic buffers and PBS were prepared at a concentration of 10 mM in TALP medium and the final pH was adjusted to 7.2. Bovine follicular fluid was aspirated from abattoir-derived ovaries and evenly divided into four tubes. Collected oocytes (five replicates) from each tube were processed separately through the entire IVM, IVF, and IVC procedures using washing medium buffered with: PBS (n = 490), Group 1; H (n = 438), Group 2; M (n = 440), Group 3; and T (n = 394), Group 4. All buffers contained 4 mg/mL BSA. Oocytes were matured in TCM-199 + 10% FCS and 10 ng/mL of epidermal growth factor and fertilized in Fert-TALP containing 25 mM bicarbonate, 22 mM sodium lactate, 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 6 mg/mL BSA-FAF, and 10 �g/mL heparin with 1 � 106 spermatozoa/mL. After 24 h, oocytes-sperm co-incubation presumptive zygotes were cultured in SOFaa medium with 8 mg/mL BSA at 39�C under paraffin oil and 5% CO2 in humidified air. Cumulus-oocyte complexes and zygotes were held in designated buffers ?16 min before oocyte maturation, ~7 min after IVM and before IVF, and ~18 min after IVF and before culture. The total time of oocyte/embryo exposure to each buffer was ?41 min. Embryo development was recorded on Days 4, 7, 8, and 9. A total of ten, Day 8 blastocysts were taken randomly from each treatment and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde for total and apoptotic cells counts, and five blastocysts from each replicate and treatment were frozen for later mRNA analysis. Apoptosis were determined by TUNEL, using commercial In situ Cell Death Detection Kit (Roche Diagnostic, SL, Barcelono, Spain). Embryo development among groups was compared by chi-square analysis. The cleavage rates were not different among the groups: PBS, 70.8%; H, 76.5%; M, 77.5% and T, 73.6%. The number of embryos that developed to d8 cells at Day 4 was higher in M, 36.2%, and PBS, 37.6%, than in H, 30.6%, and T, 29.7%, but was not significantly different. However, more (P < 0.05) blastocysts developed at Days 7, 8, and 9 in H and M than in PBS and T groups (21.9% and 22.9% vs. 16.9% and 14.9%, respectively). No difference was found between groups in total cell number (98.8 � 7, PBS; 111.8 � 11.9, M; 106.8 � 12.9, H; and 104.3 � 9.7, T) and the number of apoptotic cells (9.2 � 1.0, P; 9.2 � 0.8, M; 12.9 � 1.8, H; and 9.7 � 0.9, T). Based on the results of this study, we conclude that within our protocol choice of buffer may affect embryo developmental rates but not morphology.


1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-14
Author(s):  
I. J. East ◽  
C. J. Fitzgerald

ABSTRACTOesophagostomum radiatum developed to fourth stage larvae after 14 days in in vitro culture. However, development was totally inhibited if the standard 50% foetal calf serum in the medium was replaced by newborn calf serum. Inhibition did not occur with serum from cattle immune to O. radiatum through natural infection or experimental vaccination irrespective of the titre of specific antibodies to O. radiatum in each serum. The inhibitory action of NCS could be abolished by heat treatment at 56°C for 1 h but not by dialysis or repeated freeze-thawing. The inhibition was not consistent with observed differences in the activity of 19 enzymes in the various sera or the absence of various thiol-containing stimulants of worm development.


2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
A. Gambini ◽  
J. Jarazo ◽  
R. Olivera ◽  
F. Karlanian ◽  
D. F. Salamone

Development of cloned equine embryo is still inefficient. The aim of our study was to assess the aggregation of zona-free genetically identical cloned embryos as a strategy to improve in vitro and in vivo development. Oocyte collection, maturation, cloning, and activation procedures were performed as described by (Lagutina et al. 2007 Theriogenology 67, 90–98). After activation, reconstructed embryos (RE) were cultured in DMEM/F12 with 5% of FBS in the well of well system in 3 different groups: I, only one RE per well; II, two RE per well; and III, three RE per well. Cleavage and blastocyst formation (7 to 8 days) of all experimental groups was assessed. At day 8, some embryos of each group were either fixed to determine Oct-4 expression by immunocytochemistry or transferred transcervically to a synchronized mare. Pregnancies were assessed by ultrasound from 7 days after embryo transfer until day 45 to 50 of pregnancy every 7 to 10 days, and sizes of vesicles and embryos were measured. In advanced pregnant mares, combined thickness of the uterus and the placenta (CTUP) and serum progesterone levels were also determined. The remaining embryos obtained from each group were maintained in culture from day 7 until day 15. Blastocysts growth was determined every 24 h. In vitro development, on a per-well and RE basis, was compared using the chi-square test. Statistical differences were observed in cleavage among groups I and II (P = 0.0088) and groups I and III (P = 0.0004): (I: 91/111, 82%; II: 74/78, 95%; III: 62/62, 100%). Blastocyst rates differed between groups I and III (I: 10/111, 9%; III: 23/62, 37%); no difference was observed with group II (11/78, 14%). There was no difference on blastocyst rates based on the number of aggregated RE (I: 10/111, 9%; II: 11/156, 7%; III: 23/184, 12.5%). The highest pregnancy rate was obtained in group III (I: 1/3, 33%; II: 2/5, 40%; III: 3/4, 75%). Sizes of vesicles and embryos did not differ statistically in such groups. The CTUP and serum progesterone levels were considered normal (<1.2 cm; >8 ng mL–1, respectively) in ongoing pregnancies. We did not observe any differences in Oct-4 expression patterns among groups. Even though statistical differences were found, surprisingly all embryos grew in vitro until day 15 with good rates and the biggest embryo reached 4.25 mm. Embryo aggregation improved in vitro development of equine cloned embryos until day 7, and pregnancies rates were higher. The in vivo sizes of vesicles and embryos were normal for all groups, and in vitro development beyond day 7 showed the high viability of embryos. To conclude, aggregation of cloned equine embryo does not imply extra oocytes because there is no statistical difference in the number of blastocysts obtained per oocytes used to achieve RE. It is also a good strategy to improve in vitro embryo development without alterations on in vivo progress. This is the first report of pregnancies from aggregated equine cloned embryos, and the first healthy cloned foal from South America, confirmed by STR analysis, was born recently derived from group II. Stumpo, Ignacio, Paola Barboza, and Don Antonio staff.


1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 916-919 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Von Aderkas ◽  
G. Hicks

Primordia (P2–P6) at the shoot apex were excised and cultured on Knudson's medium for a period of 4 weeks. The majority of primordia developed as leaves. The length, mass, and morphological complexity of these leaves were related to initial primordium age and height. There was a consistent trend toward the production of shorter, lighter, and less complex leaves from the younger, smaller initial explants. A second set of experiments traced the developmental fate of isolated primordia (P1–P4) over a longer period of time (12 weeks). Various kinds of secondary development were observed including bud and root development. Bud numbers decreased with primordial age. On the other hand, the rate of root formation increased.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 194 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Palasz ◽  
J. Beltrán Breña ◽  
P. De la Fuente ◽  
M. F. Martinez ◽  
A. Gutiérrez-Adán

We have previously shown that bovine embryos cultured in SOFaa (BME + MEM amino acids) culture medium with hyaluronan (HA) + BSA are of better quality (Guti�rrez-Ad�n et al. 2005 Reprod. Fertil. Dev. 17, 219). Our objective was to examine the effect of essential (BME) or non-essential (MEM) amino acids with or without HA (MAP-5; Bioniche, Inc., Belleville, Ontario, Canada) on bovine embryo in vitro development and mRNA transcription of five developmentally important genes; apoptosis (Bax), growth factor (IGF-II), glucose (Glut-1) and fructose (Glut-5) transport and metabolism, and cell to cell adhesion (Cx-43). A total of 1474 presumptive zygotes (5 replicates) were initially cultured in 40 �L drops in the following groups: Group 1, control, SOFaa; Group 2, SOF-1 (MEM only); and Group 3, SOF-2 (BME only). On Day 4 (~96 h post-insemination (pi) the number of zygotes that had developed to d8 cells was recorded and 10 �L of SOF-1 and SOF-2, each with 2.5 mg/mL HA, was added to half of the embryos from Groups 2 and 3, respectively; the other half of Groups 2 and 3 and control group received 10 �L of corresponding medium without HA. Embryos were cultured under paraffin oil at 39�C and 5% CO2 in humidified air. Cleavage rates were recorded on Day 2 and the number of blastocysts on Days 7, 8, and 9. Five blastocysts from each replicate from each treatment were frozen for determination of gene expression patterns later. Cleavage rates and embryo development 96 h pi were compared among groups by chi-square analysis. The effects of HA and medium on blastocyst rates were analyzed by logistic regression and the data on mRNA expression by one-way repeated-measures ANOVA. Cleavage rates were 81.1% in SOFaa and 79.3% in SOF-1 (P = 0.48) and different from those in the SOF-2 group (72.4%; P < 0.02). The proportion of embryos that developed to d8 cells at Day 4 was higher in the control (46.7%) and SOF-1 (46.8%) groups than in the SOF-2 group (32.6%). The number of blastocysts that developed in SOFaa (37.0%), SOF-1 (37.7%), and SOF-1 + HA (37.8%) were higher (P < 0.001) than those in SOF-2 (19.6%) and SOF-2 + HA (21.8%). The level of expression of Glut-5 was not different among the groups. However, SOF-2 was the only group that had significantly lower expression of Glut-5, Igf II, and Cx43, and higher expression of BAX (P < 0.05) as compared to the control group and the SOF-1 groups with or without HA. Addition of HA to SOF-2 medium increased expression of Glut-1 and Igf II and decreased expression of BAX as compared to the SOF-1 only and control groups and the SOF-2 groups with or without HA (P < 0.05). The level of expression of Cx43 was higher in the control than in four remaining groups, and lower in the SOF-2 than in the SOF-1 group (P < 0.05). Addition of HA increased expression of Cx43 in both SOF-1 and SOF-2 groups but this level of expression was lower than in the control group; the level in the SOF-2 + HA group was lower (P < 0.05) than in the SOF-1 + HA group. We conclude that, within our protocol, MEM amino acids only stimulate embryo development to the blastocyst stage and the addition of HA to the SOF-MEM and SOF-BME media on Day 4 of culture improved embryo quality.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 146
Author(s):  
A. P. Reis ◽  
G. Brocart ◽  
M. Belghiti ◽  
N. Le Brusq ◽  
S. Messoudi ◽  
...  

In a previous work, we proposed an algorithm to select a subset of discriminant morphokinetical parameters within a larger predefined set (116 parameters) and to predict 6 major bovine embryo profiles of in vitro development. The algorithm relies on flexible combinations of the discriminant parameters selected within the four first cleavage cycles. The retained profiles were arrested embryos (embryos without mitotic activity, showing signs of life); dead embryos (embryos with all cells dead); anarchic embryos (embryos with abnormal morphological and/or kinetical development: some of these embryos can result in a blastocyst); not hatched blastocysts (blastocysts not hatching by 8 dpi); hatching blastocysts (blastocysts hatching in vitro from 7.3 to 8 dpi); and early hatching blastocysts (blastocysts hatching from 6 to 7.2 dpi) (Reis et al. 2018 Anim. Reprod.). The aim of the present work was to develop a ready-to-use software (EasyPickAndPredict) allowing the extension of this methodology to other embryologists. The software of high portability was built with the JAVA language and embedded with the classifier (R language, R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria) and a user’s help for annotation (Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, San Jose, CA, USA). The predictive software is easy to handle, fast to load, and has high portability. The “manual annotation” function is based on click actions to annotate the discriminant parameters. The “prediction” function calls the embedded classifier. The “report” function creates customised reports including the embryo classification, the summary of the measures, and the accuracy of the prediction (vote system). The “help” function calls an audiovisual guideline with annotation specifications for all the morphokinetic parameters currently described (including the discriminant subset of parameters). This document includes help to produce a good time-lapse video (16min 51s); annotation specifications for the cleavage cycles 1 to 4 (36 min 26s); and a summary with examples of the 6 major embryonic morphokinetical profiles (16min 47s). The predictive graphical interface is easy to manipulate and automatically extracts the value of each discriminant parameter on the time-lapse picture as validated by the user click. The functions “manual annotation”, “automatic prediction”, “help”, and “report” supply embryologists with a standard approach to predict and analyse morphokinetical profiles of their embryos. This standardised approach is necessary to improve the capacity of comparison of morphokinetical works in different laboratories and enhance knowledge about in vitro-produced bovine embryos.


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