title: Culture of bovine embryos to the blastocyst stage using Buffalo rat liver (BRL) cells.
abstract: A comparison was made between the development of in vitro matured and fertilized bovine oocytes in co-culture with bovine oviduct epithelial (BOE) cells or with Buffalo rat liver (BRL) cells. Both cell types supported development from the 1-cell to the blastocyst stage with equal efficiencies (4.4% for BRL cells, 4.0% for BOE cells). Medium conditioned by either cell type supported development to the blastocyst stage as efficiently as co-cultures (6.4 and 7.3% blastocysts for BOE and BRL conditioned medium, respectively). A higher percentage of blastocyst development was found when embryos were cultured closely apposed in small drops of BRL-conditioned medium compared with larger volumes (20.5 versus 7.0%). The ability of BRL-conditioned medium to support embryonic development was dependent on the duration of the conditioning period (optimum 24 to 48 h), and was not lost when the medium was stored at -20 degrees C for extended periods. The effects were independent of the conditions used to promote maturation in vitro and the procedure for fertilization. With 2 different methods to produce embryos in culture, both the BRL cell co-culture and BRL-conditioned medium in microdrops supported embryo development to the blastocyst stage. The use of the BRL cell line reduces the variability associated with primary BOE cell cultures.
authors.affiliation: Hubrecht Laboratory, NIOB, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: van Inzen
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: van Stekelenburg-Hamers
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Weima
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Kruip
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bevers
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Mummery