title: Developmental competence and cryotolerance of caprine parthenogenetic embryos cultured in chemically defined media.
abstract: In animal reproduction technologies, the in vitro embryo culture system has advanced over the past few decades. However, in vitro cultured embryos still have reduced functional and physiological abilities compared with those from in vivo conditions, and many factors of oviduct and uterine environments have not yet been revealed. Here, we demonstrated the in vitro culture of domestic goat (Capra hircus) embryos using two types of culture media, modified synthetic oviductal fluid (mSOF) and a two-step chemically defined medium (DI/II). To obtain parthenogenetic goat embryos, oocytes were matured in vitro in tissue culture media-199 supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum for 22 to 24 hours, and activated with 5 μM, Ca(2+) ionomycin for 4 minutes, followed by 1.9 mM, 6-dimethylaminopurine treatment for 4 hours. After 2 days of embryo culture in different culture media, there were no significant differences in cleavage rates (96.6% vs. 95.4% in mSOF vs. DI/II, respectively). However, the DI/II group showed improved development competence to blastocysts (64.6% vs. 82.3% in mSOF vs. DI/II, respectively) and the total cell number of blastocysts (144.3 ± 9.2 vs. 264.4 ± 15.2 in mSOF vs. DI/II, respectively) at Day 7. After the cryopreservation of early-stage blastocysts at Day 6 via the conventional slow-freezing procedure, the surviving embryos were analyzed. The re-expansion rate after freezing and thawing was significantly higher in DI/II (39.66% vs. 67.69% in mSOF vs. DI/II, respectively), but there were no statistical differences in total cell numbers (142.3 ± 12.1 vs. 172.1 ± 11.6 in mSOF vs. DI/II, respectively), apoptotic index (4.9 ± 0.8% vs. 3.8 ± 0.7 in mSOF vs. DI/II, respectively), and the gene expression levels (BAX, GLUT1, MnSOD, and OCT4) among the re-expanded blastocysts. Overall, our data reported that the defined in vitro culture media for goat embryos were established with high efficiency, which will be very useful for goat embryo production.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Theriogenology and Biotechnology, Department of Veterinary Clinical Science, College of Veterinary Medicine and the Research Institute of Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Woo-Jae
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Theriogenology and Biotechnology, Department of Veterinary Clinical Science, College of Veterinary Medicine and the Research Institute of Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Theriogenology and Biotechnology, Department of Veterinary Clinical Science, College of Veterinary Medicine and the Research Institute of Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Theriogenology and Biotechnology, Department of Veterinary Clinical Science, College of Veterinary Medicine and the Research Institute of Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Soo-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Yum
authors.affiliation: Embryo Research Center in Seoul Milk Coop., Yangpeong, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Song-Jeon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Biosafety Research Institute and Laboratory of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chae-Woong
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Theriogenology and Biotechnology, Department of Veterinary Clinical Science, College of Veterinary Medicine and the Research Institute of Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Emergence Center for Food-Medicine Personalized Therapy System, Advanced Institutes of Convergence Technology, Seoul National University, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: snujang@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Goo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology*; D019976:Cloning, Organism; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000662:veterinary*; D003470:Culture Media; D046149:Embryo Culture Techniques / Q000662:veterinary*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D006041:Goats / Q000196:embryology*; D010312:Parthenogenesis / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media
keywords: Cell number; Chemically defined medium; Freezing; Goat embryos; In vitro culture