GM-CSF treatment of frozen bovine sperm improves function, fertilization, and subsequent embryo development.

In vitro embryo production (IVP) is used in the cattle industry to increase the rate of genetic gain. IVP uses semen that has been frozen and thawed, a process that renders sperm less viable than sperm from fresh semen. Granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is present in bovine seminal plasma, while its receptor is present on bovine sperm.

Effect of oxygen and glucose availability during in vitro maturation of bovine oocytes on development and gene expression.

Purpose: Oxygen tension during the in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes is important for oocyte developmental competence. A conflict exists in the literature as to whether low oxygen during IVM is detrimental or beneficial to the oocyte. Many research and clinical labs use higher than physiological oxygen tension perhaps believing that low-oxygen tension is detrimental to oocyte development.

Gray level Co-occurrence Matrices (GLCM) to assess microstructural and textural changes in pre-implantation embryos.

The preimplantation embryo is extraordinarily sensitive to environmental signals and events such that perturbations can alter embryo metabolism and program an altered developmental trajectory, ultimately affecting the phenotype of the adult individual; indeed, the physical environment associated with in vitro embryo culture can attenuate development. Defining the underlying metabolic changes and mechanisms, however, has been limited by the imaging technology used to evaluate metabolites and structural features in the embryo. Here, we assessed the impact of in vitro fertilization and culture on mouse embryos using three metabolic markers: peroxyfluor 1 (a reporter of hydrogen peroxide), monochlorobimane (a reporter of glutathione), and Mitotracker Deep Red (a marker of mitochondria).