title: Improving post-thaw survival of cryopreserved mouse blastocysts by hydrostatic pressure challenge.
abstract: The purpose of the experiments was to study the effect of high hydrostatic pressure treatment prior to vitrification to the survival of expanded mouse blastocysts. High hydrostatic pressure has been reported to induce the production of "shock proteins" in bacteria, which can provide a possibility of cross-protection to other environmental stresses. The possible beneficial effects of this alleged principle was examined on embryo vitrification. First, the behaviour of blastocysts was studied at altered pressure conditions. In the second part of the study, pressure treatment was combined with a cryopreservation protocol. Our results indicate that the survival of pressurized mouse embryos depends on the magnitude and the duration of pressure applied. We demonstrated that a preceding pressure treatment strikingly increases the survival of the frozen blastocysts as well as the speed of resumption of the development, and hatching rate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Szent István University, 1078, István u. 2., Budapest, Hungary. cpriban@univet.hu
authors.forename: Csaba
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pribenszky
authors.forename: Miklós
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Molnár
authors.forename: Sándor
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cseh
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Solti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology*; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000662:veterinary*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006874:Hydrostatic Pressure; D051379:Mice