title: Vitamin requirements for development of eight-cell hamster embryos to hatching blastocysts in vitro.
abstract: We have shown in previous studies that development of 8-cell hamster embryos to hatching and hatched blastocysts in vitro is stimulated by the addition to the culture medium of a group of 11 water-soluble vitamins and growth factors from Ham's F10 medium. In the present study, the requirement for each of these vitamins for blastocyst hatching was examined by using a chemically defined protein-free medium. Eight-cell hamster embryos were cultured for 3 days either in medium with all 11 vitamins or in media with a single vitamin omitted at a time or in medium without any vitamins. The only vitamins whose omission caused a significant decrease in blastocyst hatching at any stage were inositol, pantothenate, and choline, with the omission of inositol having the most severe effect. This finding was confirmed in a subsequent experiment in which the addition of these 3 vitamins stimulated the same degree of hatching as all 11 vitamins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University College, Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Bavister
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006224:Cricetinae; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008647:Mesocricetus; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D014815:Vitamins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins