Lipid phase transitions in cat oocytes supplemented with deuterated fatty acids.

Cryopreservation of oocytes has already been used to preserve genetic resources, but this technology faces limitations when applied to the species whose oocytes contain large amounts of cytoplasmic lipid droplets. Although cryoinjuries in such oocytes are usually associated with the lipid phase transition in lipid droplets, this phenomenon is still poorly understood. We applied Raman spectroscopy of deuterium-labeled lipids to investigate the freezing of lipid droplets inside cat oocytes.

Effects of slow freezing and vitrification on embryo development in domestic cat.

Cryopreservation of gametes and embryos is used to maintain genetic diversity of domestic and wild felids. However, felid oocytes and preimplantation embryos contain large amount of intracellular lipids, which affect their cryosensitivity. The objective was to compare the effects of slow freezing and vitrification and to study lipid phase transition (LPT) during cooling in cat embryos.

Lipid Droplet Phase Transition in Freezing Cat Embryos and Oocytes Probed by Raman Spectroscopy.

Embryo and oocyte cryopreservation is a widely used technology for cryopreservation of genetic resources. One limitation of cryopreservation is the low tolerance to freezing observed for oocytes and embryos rich in lipid droplets. We apply Raman spectroscopy to investigate freezing of lipid droplets inside cumulus-oocyte complexes, mature oocytes, and early embryos of a domestic cat.