Enhancing effects of serum-rich and cytokine-supplemented culture conditions on developing blastocysts and deriving porcine parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells.

The present study was conducted to develop an effective method for establishment of porcine parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (ppESCs) from parthenogenetically activated oocyte-derived blastocysts. The addition of 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) to the medium on the 3rd day of oocyte culturing improved the development of blastocysts, attachment of inner cell masses (ICMs) onto feeder cells, and formation of primitive ppESC colonies. ICM attachment was further enhanced by basic fibroblast growth factor, stem cell factor, and leukemia inhibitory factor.

Anthocyanin stimulates in vitro development of cloned pig embryos by increasing the intracellular glutathione level and inhibiting reactive oxygen species.

The objective was to examine the nuclear maturation of oocytes, embryonic development after parthenogenetic activation (PA) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), and gene expression in SCNT embryos in pigs (Sus scrofa) when anthocyanin was added to oocytes during maturation and in vitro culture (IVC) of embryos. Immature oocytes were untreated or treated with 0.1 microg/mL anthocyanin during in vitro maturation (IVM).

Developmental competence of morphologically poor oocytes in relation to follicular size and oocyte diameter in the pig.

The objective of this study was to assess the practical usefulness of morphologically poor oocytes (MPCOCs) in relation to follicular size and oocyte diameter. Oocytes collected from medium (3-8 mm in diameter) and small (<3 mm) follicles were classified into five categories of morphologically good oocytes (MGCOCs) from medium follicles (MA, control), MPCOCs with larger and smaller diameters from medium follicles (ML and MS, respectively), and those from small follicles (SL and SS, respectively). The oocytes were examined for maturation and developmental competence after parthenogenesis and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).

Proteomic analysis of recurrent spontaneous abortion: Identification of an inadequately expressed set of proteins in human follicular fluid.

Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA), defined as the loss of three or more consecutive pregnancies prior to the 20th week of gestation, affects up to 5% of the child-bearing population. To investigate the proteins associated with RSA, the protein expression in human follicular fluid was analyzed using 2-DE. Follicular fluid contains a variety of biologically important proteins for oocyte fertilization and follicle maturation in the mammalian reproductive process.

Effect of exogenous carbohydrates in a serum-free culture medium on the development of in vitro matured and fertilized porcine embryos.

This study was conducted to examine the effect of energy substrates in a serum-free culture medium on in vitro development of porcine embryos. Presumptive zygotes derived from in vitro fertilization were cultured in glucose-free North Carolina State University (NCSU)-23 medium with glucose, pyruvate, fructose and lactate added to the culture medium singly or in various combinations. In experiment 1, a higher percentage of embryos cleaved (53-63% vs 10-13%) and developed to the blastocyst stage (18-27% vs 0) after the single addition of glucose (5.

Renovation of a drop embryo cultures system by using refined mineral oil and the effect of glucose and/or hemoglobin added to a serum-free medium.

This study was conducted to evaluate whether refining mineral oil and the addition of hemoglobin and/or glucose to a serum-free medium could improve in vitro-development of embryos cultured in a chemically semi-defined microdroplet culture system. Block strain, outbred (ICR) mouse 1- or 2-cell embryos were cultured in 5 microl droplets of Chatot, Ziomek and Bavister medium overlaid with mineral oil of different types, and preimplantation development to the blastocyst stage was subsequently monitored. In the experiment 1, either Sigma (M-8410) or BDH (GPR) mineral oil with or without washing was used for embryo culture and, distilled water (DW) or culture medium was used as a washing agent.

Effects of exogenous hexoses on bovine in vitro fertilized and cloned embryo development: Improved blastocyst formation after glucose replacement with fructose in a serum-free culture medium.

To evaluate the embryotrophic role of three hexoses (glucose, fructose, and galactose), bovine embryos derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) or in vitro-fertilization (IVF) were cultured in a modified synthetic oviductal fluid (mSOF), which contained either glucose (1.5 or 5.6 mM), fructose (1.

Improvement of a porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer technique by optimizing donor cell and recipient oocyte preparations.

This study was conducted to improve a porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) technique by optimizing donor cell and recipient oocyte preparations. Adult and fetal fibroblasts, and cumulus and oviduct cells were used as donor cells, and in vivo- and in vitro-matured oocytes were employed as recipient oocytes. The percentages of fusion and development to the blastocyst stage, the ratio of blastocysts to 2-cell embryos, and cell number of blastocysts were monitored as experimental parameters.

Recruit of porcine oocytes excluded from nuclear transfer program for the production of embryos following parthenogenetic activation.

To evaluate whether oocytes excluded from somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) could be utilized for embryo production by parthenogenetic activation (PA), porcine oocytes with poor morphology after maturation culture were excluded from SCNT and subsequently used for PA with different stimuli. In the first set of experiment, either electric pulse of different strengths (1.75, 2.

Improved development of ICR mouse 2-cell embryos by the addition of amino acids to a serum-, phosphate-and glucose-free medium.

This study was conducted to evaluate how exogenous amino acids could affect preimplantation development of ICR mouse embryos. Two-cell embryos collected from naturally mated mice were cultured in amino acid-, glucose- and phosphate-free preimplantation (P)-1 medium. In Experiments 1, 19 amino acids (aa; 1% and 0.

Improved monospermic fertilization and subsequent blastocyst formation of bovine oocytes fertilized in vitro in a medium containing NaCl of decreased concentration.

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether changes in NaCl concentration in a fertilization medium could improve normal fertilization and preimplantation development of bovine oocytes. In vitro matured bovine oocytes were inseminated with frozen-thawed semen for 18 hr in a Tyrode's medium with albumin, lactate and pyruvate (TALP), to which 114 (TALP-114), 96 (TALP-96) or 78 (TALP-78) mM NaCl was added. Presumptive zygotes were cultured for 192 hr in a modified TALP containing 90 mM NaCl, 1.