title: Culture of bovine embryos on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microwell plate.
abstract: We fabricated a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based microwell plate (PDMS-MP) containing 100 microwells with a rounded bottom and examined whether it can be used for culture of individual in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos or parthenogenetically activated zona-free embryos in cattle. In Experiment 1, we examined the in vitro developmental ability of IVF embryos cultured individually on PDMS-MP. After IVF, 20 embryos were transferred into 100 microl drops on PDMS-MP and cultured individually in each well of PDMS-MP (PDMS group). After 7 days of culture, the embryos in the PDMS group developed to the blastocyst stage at the same rate of those in the control group cultured in a group of 20 embryos without PDMS-MP. There were no differences in total number of cells and the ratio of inner cell mass to total cells between the PDMS and control groups. In Experiment 2, we examined the in vitro developmental ability of parthenogenetically activated zona-free bovine embryos cultured individually on PDMS-MP. The zona-free embryos were cultured individually in each well of a PDMS-MP or in each well produced by pressing a darning needle onto the bottom of a culture dish (WOW group). After 7 days of culture, the blastocyst formation rate and cell number of blastocysts in the PDMS group did not differ from those of the zona-intact embryos in the control group. Also, there were no differences in the blastocyst formation rate and cell number of blastocysts between the WOW and PDMS groups. These results suggest that the culture system using PDMS-MP is useful for individual embryos or zona-free embryos in cattle.
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Biology and Technology Research Team, National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, Ibaraki, Japan. akagi@affrc.go.jp
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akagi
authors.forename: Misa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hosoe
authors.forename: Kazutsugu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsukawa
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: Tamio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanikawa
authors.forename: Seiya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000196:embryology*; D002452:Cell Count; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D046149:Embryo Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000662:veterinary; D008832:Microchemistry; D008954:Models, Biological; D010312:Parthenogenesis / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; C013830:baysilon