Effects of sera and steroid hormones on development of bovine oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro and co-cultured with bovine oviduct epithelial cells.
The present experiment was designed to identify possible effects of sera and steroid hormones added to a co-culture with bovine oviduct epithelial cells on embryonic development in vitro. Bovine oocytes were matured in vitro for 24 h and then fertilized in vitro using swim-up and heparin-treated, frozen-thawed spermatozoa. At 18 and 20 h after insemination, oocytes were cultured for 3 or 7 d in a co-culture system with bovine oviduct epithelial cells containing either fetal calf serum (FCS) or estrous cow serum (ECS) and one of six hormonal additions (none, 1 or 10 micrograms/ml estradiol [E]; 1 microgram/ml progesterone [P]; 1 microgram/ml E + P; and 10 micrograms/ml E + P). A total of 2,666 oocytes were cultured for 3 d and examined for cleavage. Of those, 2,280 oocytes were cultured up to 7 d for development to the late morula or blastocyst stage. Greatest cleavage rates for 2- to 8-cell and 8-cell stages were observed in FCS (71 and 24%) and ECS (66 and 23%) without steroid addition. For development into blastocysts, no serum effect was observed. Greatest rates for development into blastocysts were observed in FCS (14%) and ECS (16%) without steroid addition. These results indicate that addition of E and P at the doses and combinations tested did not enhance developmental capacity of in vitro fertilized bovine oocytes. Compared with FCS, ECS tended to increase cleavage rates and development into blastocysts.
Fukui
Y
Y
Dept. of Meat Anim. Reprod., Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Japan.
D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood; D002417:Cattle / Q000196:embryology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003470:Culture Media; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005187:Fallopian Tubes / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000662:veterinary; D009865:Oocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology*
D003470:Culture Media; D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol