title: Effects of supplementation with fetal calf serum on development of bovine embryos in synthetic oviduct fluid medium.
abstract: The effects of fetal calf serum (FCS) or serum fractions on the development of bovine embryos was investigated. Bovine zygotes were produced in vitro and were cultured in a semi-defined culture medium (mSOF). In the first experiment, blastocysts produced in mSOF supplemented with 10% whole heat-treated FCS or desalted FCS appeared about 1 day earlier, their proportion was significantly (P < 0.05) higher (whole: 30%, desalted: 29%) and they had significantly (P < 0.05) more cells at day 8 (119 cells, 127 cells) than did blastocysts produced in mSOF without any supplement (16%, 98 cells) or mSOF supplemented with a glucose concentration equivalent to that of serum (15%, 88 cells). Our results indicate that high molecular mass components (> 5 kDa) of serum are responsible for the effects of FCS on the kinetics of development, on the percentage of blastocysts obtained and the total number of cells in blastocysts. A further analysis using time-lapse microcinematography showed that the acceleration of development induced by serum occurred between the 9-16-cell and morula stages. Finally, in an experiment designed to analyse by microcinematography the effect of the addition of FCS using semen from a different bull to inseminate the oocytes, a different batch of serum and adding mSOF at a different time (42 h after insemination), acceleration was similarly observed between these two stages. Our microcinematographic studies demonstrate that the addition of FCS at two developmental stages (three-four-cell and five-eight-cell) before the 8-16-cell stage accelerates development just after this critical blocking stage.
authors.affiliation: Université Catholique de Louvain, Unité des Sciences Vétérinaires, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van Langendonckt
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Donnay
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schuurbiers
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Auquier
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carolan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Massip
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dessy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D003470:Culture Media; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D005312:Fetal Blood; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media