title: Effect of plasmin, plasminogen activators and a plasmin inhibitor on bovine in vitro embryo production.
abstract: In the present study, four experiments were conducted to investigate the possible effects of plasminogen activators (urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) and tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA)), plasmin, and a plasmin inhibitor (epsilon-aminocaproic acid (epsilon-ACA)) on different stages of bovine in vitro embryo production (IVP). The concentrations of these modifiers in IVP media were conditioned according to the plasminogen activator activity of bovine preovulatory follicular fluid. Media were modified in a single phase of IVP with an 18 h or 24 h incubation for in vitro maturation (IVM) and a 24 h or 48 h incubation for the IVF or in vitro culture (IVC), respectively. After IVM the oocytes were either fixed and stained or underwent IVF and IVC. The main findings were: (1) plasmin added to the 18 h IVM medium increased maturation rate without affecting fertilisation or embryo development rates; (2) t-PA added to the IVF medium significantly increased cleavage; (3) u-PA added to the IVC medium significantly increased embryo development rates; (4) the efficiency of all phases of IVP was reduced after the addition of epsilon-ACA; and (5) plasminogen addition had no effect in any IVP phase tested. We conclude that the members of the plasminogen activator-plasmin system contribute in different ways to bovine IVM, IVF and IVC.
authors.affiliation: University of Thessaly, Veterinary Faculty, Clinic of Reproduction & Obstetrics, 224 Trikalon Street, 431 00 Karditsa, Greece.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Papanikolaou
authors.forename: Georgios S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Amiridis
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dimitriadis
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vainas
authors.forename: Constantinos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Rekkas
mesh_terms: D015119:Aminocaproic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000379:methods*; D005341:Fibrinolysin / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D013997:Time Factors; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator; D005341:Fibrinolysin; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator; D015119:Aminocaproic Acid