Effect of Pre‐Treatment of Ovine Sperm on Male Pronuclear Formation and Subsequent Embryo Development Following Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of various methods of sperm pre‐treatment on male pronuclear (MPN) formation and subsequent development of ovine embryos derived from in vitro‐matured oocytes and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The effect of treatment of injected oocytes with dithiothreitol (DTT) on embryo development was also assessed. In Exp. 1, the injected oocytes with non‐treated sperm were activated with three different procedures. The cleavage and blastocyst rates in those activated with DTT was lower (p < 0.05) than those activated with either ionomycin (Io) + 6‐dimethylaminopurine (6‐DMAP) or DTT + I + 6‐DMAP. In Exp. 2, the effects of sperm pre‐incubated with DTT, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) or DTT + SDS as well as two‐time frozen/thawed sperm (without cryoprotectant) on MPN formation and oocyte activation were examined. The non‐treated sperm served as controls. The MPN formation in DTT + SDS group was higher (p < 0.05) than other groups except for freeze–thaw group. No difference in the rate of activated ICSI oocytes was observed among groups. In Exp. 3, the effect of pre‐treatment of sperm on subsequent development of ICSI embryos and blastocyst cell numbers were examined. The rates of cleavage and blastocyst formation as well as the blastocyst cell numbers were similar among the pre‐treated and control groups. In conclusion, pre‐treatment of sperm with DTT + SDS positively affected MPN formation, although the subsequent development capacity of the resulting embryos remained limited. Moreover, DTT was not effective on oocyte activation compared with Io + 6‐DMAP after ICSI.     

Chemical Activation with a Combination of Ionomycin and Dehydroleucodine for Production of Parthenogenetic,ICSI and Cloned Bovine Embryos

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of dehydroleucodine (DhL), a new drug isolated from a medicinal herb used in Argentina, for activation of bovine oocyte. Several DhL concentrations and exposure times after ionomycin (Io) treatment were tested. The optimal DhL treatment, found for parthenogenetic development, was employed to produce bovine embryos by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The best parthenogenic embryo developments were observed with 5 μm Io for 4 min followed by 5 μm DhL concentration and after 3‐h exposure time (52.3% cleavage; 17.4% morulae; 7.3% blastocyst; n = 109). This treatment generated no significant differences with standard Io plus 6‐dimethylaminopurine (DMAP) treatment in preimplantation embryo development. In our conditions, the embryo development reached after ICSI and SCNT assisted by the DhL treatment did not differ in terms of cleavage and blastocyst development from activation with standard Io plus DMAP treatment (p > 0.05). In conclusion, DhL utilization to activate oocytes and induce development of parthenogenotes, ICSI‐embryos or SCNT‐embryos is reported here for first time.     

Optimization of parthenogenetic activation of rabbit oocytes and development of rabbit embryo by somatic cell nuclear transfer

The present study explored a suitable parthenogenetic activation (PA) procedure for rabbit oocytes and investigated the developmental potential of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos using rabbit foetal fibroblasts (RFFs). The electrical activation had the optimal rate of blastocyst (14.06%) when oocytes were activated by three direct current (DC) pulses (40 V/mm, 20 μs each) followed by 6‐dimethylaminopurine (6‐DMAP) and cycloheximide (CHX) treatment; the blastocyst rate of ionomycin (ION) + 6‐DMAP + CHX (12.07%) activation was higher than that of ION + 6‐DMAP (8.6%) activation or ION + CHX (1.24%) activation; there was no significant difference in blastocyst rate between ION + 6‐DMAP + CHX and DC + 6‐DMAP + CHX groups. The blastocyst rate of ION + 6‐DMAP + CHX‐activated oocytes in the basic rabbit culture medium (M‐199) + 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS; 14.28%) was higher than that in buffalo conditioned medium (5.75%) or G1/G2 medium (0), and the blastocyst rate was increased when M‐199 + 10% FBS was supplemented with amino acids. Refreshing culture medium every day or every other day significantly increased the blastocyst rate. Treatment of donor cells with 0.5% FBS for 3–5 days increased blastocyst rate of SCNT embryos (33.33%) than no serum starvation (22.47%) or 0.5% FBS treatment for 6–9 days (23.61%); the blastocyst rate of SCNT embryos derived from nontransgenic RFFs was higher than that derived from transgenic RFFs by electroporation. The blastocyst development ability of SCNT embryos derived from RFFs by electroporation (32.22%) was higher than that of liposome (19.11%) or calcium phosphate (20.00%) transfection, and only the embryos from electroporation group have the EGFP expression (24.44%). In conclusion, this study for the first time systematically optimized the conditions for yield of rabbit embryo by SCNT.     

Transgenic Cloned Mice Expressing Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein Generated by Activation Stimuli Combined with 6‐dimethylaminopurine

Most studies of mouse cloning successfully achieved activation of the reconstructed oocytes by strontium (Sr) combined with cytochalasin B (CB) treatment. A protein kinase inhibitor, 6‐dimethylaminopurine (6‐DMAP), was used to inhibit the activity of maturation promoting factor for activation of oocytes, but it has never been successfully applied in mouse cloning. This study investigates the activation efficiency of 6‐DMAP in mouse somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Higher parthenogenetic blastocyst rates (71–72%, p < 0.05) were achieved in the oocytes treated with Sr6D (10 mM Sr combined with 2 mM 6‐DMAP for 4 h) and Sr6D + SrCB (Sr6D for 2 h then Sr combined with 5 μg/ml CB for another 2 h), and a higher rate of hatching and hatched blastocyst was observed in the Sr6D + SrCB group (31%, p < 0.01) compared with other treatment groups (1–8%). For mouse cloning, cumulus cells of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)‐expressed ESC chimera F1 were used as donor nuclei. Following activation, better development of the cloned embryos was observed in Sr6D + SrCB treatment. Moreover, different media, i.e. KSOM‐AA, MEM‐α and MK, for culturing cloned embryos were also compared in this study. Better morula/blastocyst (40%) and blastocyst (29%) rates were achieved in the embryos cultured in MEM‐α medium (p < 0.05). Consequently, four EGFP cloned mice were generated in the activation treatment containing 6‐DMAP following embryo transfer. In conclusion, treatment with 6‐DMAP in combination with other activation stimuli successfully activates mouse reconstructed oocytes and support full‐term development of the transgenic SCNT cloned embryos.     

Activation of Zona‐Free Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Oocytes by Chemical or Electrical stimulation,and Subsequent Parthenogenetic Embryo Development

Parthenogenetic activation using zona‐free oocytes offers an alternative model that could be applied to develop protocols for the activation of reconstructed embryos for cloning. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of different methods for the activation of zona‐free buffalo oocytes in terms of their effects on the developmental competence of parthenogenetic embryos. The effects of zona removal on parthenogenetic activation and in vitro developmental competence of metaphase II oocytes were also examined. All activation methods were followed by incubation of 2 mm 6‐dimethylaminopurine (6‐DMAP) for 4 h. Out of three different pulse strengths (1.2, 2.1 or 3.3 kV/cm) used, 2.1 kV/cm resulted in the highest blastocyst rate (25.3%). On comparing different chemical agents and electric pulse, highest blastocyst rate was observed for calcium ionophore (CaI) (28.6%) followed by ethanol (25.0%), electric pulse (22.5%) and combined CaI and ethanol treatment (16.7%) although differences among them were not significant. Furthermore, a significantly reduced developmental potential was observed in zona‐free oocytes when compared to zona‐intact ones up to the blastocyst stage (44.3% vs 27.1%). In conclusion, zona‐free buffalo oocytes can be successfully activated for parthenogenetic development using chemical or electrical stimulation. Out of different agents examined, CaI followed by 6‐DMAP resulted in the highest blastocyst rate.     

Effect of activation methods for bovine oocytes after intracytoplasmic injection

A principal nuclear transfer procedure is to inject a donor cell into the perivitelline space in an enucleated oocyte and then electric fusion is performed (cell fusion method). The effects of activation methods in reconstructed oocytes for the serum-starved somatic cell cloning procedure were investigated in this study by means of intracytoplasmic injection (i.c.i.). Bovine oocytes were enucleated at 18-22 h for in vitro maturation, and subsequently the nucleus of cumulus cell collected from Japanese Black Bulls (JBCC) after 5-7 days of starved culture was injected into the recipient cytoplast with a piezo-micromanipulator. At 1 h after i.c.i., reconstructed oocytes were stimulated with ethanol (ET) or calcium ionophore (CaI) as the first activation treatment, followed by cycloheximide (CHX) or 6-dimethylaminopurin (DMAP) treatment as the second activation. In the experiment on the first activation method, the proportion of reconstructed oocytes developing to the blastocyst stage was significantly (p<0.01) higher in the ET activation method than that with CaI (10.5% and 4.7%, respectively). And the experiment on the second activation method after ET treatment showed similar proportions of blastocyst development in both CHX and DMAP treatments (5.9% and 2.8%, respectively). The present results indicated that combined activation treatment with ET and CHX was efficient for reconstructed bovine oocytes by i.c.i.     

水牛卵母细胞孤雌激活及孤雌胚与体外受精胚发育比较

比较了水牛卵母细胞体外成熟时间对孤雌激活胚发育能力的影响,以及不同化学激活方法对水牛卵母细胞孤雌激活效果的影响,并在相同条件下,对孤雌激活胚与体外受精胚的发育能力进行了比较.结果表明,水牛卵母细胞体外成熟27 h或30 h的囊胚发育率(19.0%、17.7%)明显高于体外成熟21 h或24h的囊胚发育率(12.3%、13.8%);Ion联合6-DMAP激活水牛卵母细胞的效果优于其他几组激活方法;在相同条件下,孤雌激活胚与体外受精胚的发育能力存在着差异,其中卵裂率差异不显著,但孤雌激活胚的囊胚发育率显著高于体外受精胚.     

Morphology of Dromedary Camel Oocytes and their Ability to Spontaneous and Chemical Parthenogenetic Activation

The present work was conducted to examine (1) the morphology of dromedary cumulus‐oocytes complexes (COCs), (2) to study the incidence of spontaneous development of oocytes in vivo and (3) to assess the ability of in vitro matured dromedary oocytes to chemical parthenogenetic activation compared with in vitro fertilized (IVF) oocytes. COCs were recovered from dromedary ovaries classified according to their morphology into six categories. Oocyte diameter was measured using eye piece micrometer. For chemical activation, COCs with at least three layers of cumulus‐cells were in vitro matured (IVM) in TCM 199 + 10 μg/ml FSH + 10 IU hCG/ml + 10% FCS + 50 μg/ml gentamycin. COCs were incubated for 40 h at 38.5°C under 5% CO₂ in humidified air. After IVM, matured oocytes with first polar body (first Pb) were divided into two groups. Group 1: activated in 7% ethanol (E) for 5 min followed by culture in 2 mM 6‐dimethylaminopurin (6‐DMAP, E D, subgroup 1) or 10 μg/ml cycloheximide (CHX, E CHX, subgroup 2) for 3.5 h at 38.5°C under 5% CO₂. In group 2, oocytes were activated using 50 μM Ca A23187 (Ca A) for 5 min followed by culture in 2 mM 6‐DMAP (Ca D, subgroup 3) or 10 μg/ml CHX(Ca CHX, subgroup 4) for 3.5 h at 38.5°C under 5% CO₂. For control group, IVM oocytes were fertilized using frozen‐thawed camel spermatozoa separated by swim‐up method then suspended in Fert‐TALP medium supplemented with 6 mg/ml BSA (FAF) + 10 μg/ml heparin. In all groups, oocytes were in vitro cultured in SOFaa medium + 5% FCS and 5 μg/ml insulin + 50 μg/ml gentamycin. Cleavage rate and embryo development were checked on Days 2, 5 and 8. An average of 11.3 ± 0.3 COCs were recovered/dromedary ovary. Categories 1 and 2 represented 33.1% and 34.8%, respectively, and were significantly higher (p < 0.01) than the other categories (19.1, 9.2 and 2.6% for categories 3–5, respectively). Category 6 (embryo‐like structures) represented 1.2% of the recovered oocytes, staining of these embryo‐like structures with orcien dye indicated the presence of divided cells with condensed nuclei. Dromedary oocytes averaged 166.2 ± 2.6 μm in diameter with black cytoplasm. Chemical activation of IVM dromedary oocyte with first Pb in 7% ethanol or 50 μM Ca A followed by culture in 2 mM 6‐DMAP showed significantly higher (p < 0.01) cleavage and developmental rates to the morula stage than oocytes activated using 7% ethanol or 50 μM Ca A followed by 10 μg/ml CHX or in vitro fertilized control group. Higher (p < 0.01) proportion of oocytes sequentially cultured in 10 μg/ml CHX or that in vitro fertilized were arrested at the 2–4‐cell stage compared with that cultured in 6‐DMAP.     

水牛卵母细胞孤雌激活及孤雌胚与体外受精胚发育比较

对MII期水牛卵母细胞进行人工诱导激活可以帮助人们间接判断体外成熟卵母细胞质量的优劣。并且，卵母细胞的充分激活也是提高核移植效率的关键因素之一。试验比较了水牛卵母细胞体外成熟时间对孤雌激活胚发育能力的影响以及不同化学激活方法对水牛卵母细胞孤雌激活效果的影响，并在相同条件下，对孤雌激活胚与体外受精胚的发育能力进行了比较。结果表明，水牛卵母细胞体外成熟27小时或30小时的囊胚发育率（19．0％或17．7％）明显高于体外成熟21小时或24小时的囊胚发育率（12．3％或13．8％）；Ion联合6-DMAP激活水牛卵母细胞的效果优于其他几组激活方法；在相同条件下，孤雌激活胚与体外受精胚的发育能力存在着差异，其中卵裂率差异不显著，但孤雌激活胚的囊胚发育率显著高于体外受精胚（13．0％vs21．7％）。     

表皮生长因子对水牛卵母细胞体外培养核质成熟的影响

为了探讨表皮生长因子（EGF）对水牛卵泡卵母细胞体外培养核质成熟的影响，在以TCM199为基础的成熟液中加入不同浓度的EGF（0、10、25、50、100 ng/ml），体外成熟培养24~26 h，观察第一极体（PB1）的排放；随后进行孤雌激活检测其分裂率、囊胚发育率、囊胚孵化率，并用Hoechst33342染色后计算囊胚的细胞数。结果发现添加EGF各组的卵母细胞第一极体排放率显著提高（P<0.05）；成熟液中添加25 ng/ml EGF时，卵裂率及囊胚发育率（分别为80.0%、44.8%）明显高于对照组（分别为69.3%、31.9%，P<0.05），但对囊胚的细胞数影响不大。EGF不仅促进水牛卵母细胞体外培养的核成熟，而且有利于卵母细胞的胞质成熟，其中EGF的最佳浓度为25 ng/ml。     

Evaluation of Cheetah and Leopard Spermatozoa Developmental Capability after Interspecific ICSI with Domestic Cat Oocytes

The ICSI procedure is potentially of great value for felids, and it has not been extensively studied in these species. The objectives of this work were to determine the best conditions for ICSI in the domestic cat (DC) to generate interspecific embryos by injecting cheetah (Ch) and leopard (Leo) spermatozoa. Firstly, DC oocytes were matured with insulin–transferrin–selenium (ITS) or without it (MM) and cultured using atmospheric (21%) or low (5%) oxygen tension after ICSI. The group ITS‐5%O₂ showed the highest blastocyst rate (p < 0.05), 20.9% vs 8.7%, 7% and 6.5%, for MM‐21%O₂, MM‐5%O₂ and ITS‐21%O₂, respectively. The best conditions were used to generate the interspecific embryos, together with ionomycin activation (Io) after ICSI. Interspecific embryos resulted in high rates of blastocysts that were not positively affected by Io activation: 32.6% vs 21% for Ch and Ch‐Io, 9.8% vs 21% for Leo and Leo‐Io, and 20% vs 17.4% for DC and DC‐Io. We also evaluated DNA‐fragmented nuclei of experiment 1 and 2 blastocysts, using TUNEL assay. The fragmented nucleus proportion was higher in the ITS‐5%O₂ group, 67.6%. Surprisingly, interspecific blastocysts showed the lowest fragmented nucleus proportion: 27% and 29.9% for Ch and Leo, respectively. We concluded that ITS and 5%O₂ improve blastocyst formation in DC, although with a concomitant increase in DNA fragmentation. Most importantly, cheetah and leopard spermatozoa were able to generate blastocysts without artificial activation, which suggests that developmental capacity of wild felid spermatozoa can be evaluated by interspecific ICSI. This technique should be used to assist wild felid reproduction.     

影响猪ICSI转基因技术效率的主要因素研究

以猪体外成熟卵子和冷冻解冻的死精子为材料,以pEGFP-N1为模式基因,探讨注射台温度、激活后6-DMAP的处理和精子与PEGFP-N1孵育液添加BSA(牛血清白蛋白)对精子胞质内注射(ICSI)转基因效率的影响。结果表明:注射台温度为30℃时的阳性率为40.07%,而38.5℃时为20.97%,差异极显著(P<0.01)。添加BSA的囊胚转基因率为55.56%,对照组为33.33%,差异极显著(P<0.01)。6-DMAP处理组与对照组的转基因率分别为52.53%和26.25%,差异极显著(P<0.01);而且6-DMAP处理组的囊胚率(9.96%)显著高于(P<0.05)对照组(2.30%)。研究表明注射台温度对转基因效率有明显影响,温度高转基因率低;精子与PEGFP-N1孵育液添加BSA对转基因胚胎发育有一定促进和保护作用,有利于提高囊胚转基因率;激活后用6-DMAP处理能提高转基因率和囊胚率。     

不同激活条件及半胱氨酸处理对猪ICSI胚胎发育影响研究

本试验探讨了不同辅助激活方法(Calciumionophore A23187激活、Calciumionophore A23187+6-DMAP联合激活和电激活)、不同精子预处理方法(液氮冻融处理和0.1%Triton X-100处理)和在添加半胱氨酸的胚胎培养液中培养不同时间(0 h、4 h、12 h和168 h)对猪卵母细胞内单精子注射(ICSI)胚胎体外发育的影响。结果显示:与无辅助激活相比,A23187+6-DMAP联合激活和电激活均能显著提高ICSI卵母细胞的激活率、卵裂率和囊胚率(P0.05),A23187+6-DMAP联合激活能显著提高ICSI卵母细胞的受精率(P0.05)。液氮冻融精子组ICSI卵母细胞的雄原核形成率显著高于活精子组(P0.05)。在添加半胱氨酸的胚胎培养液中培养4 h的ICSI卵母细胞受精率、雄原核形成率和囊胚率显著高于0 h组(P0.05)。以上结果表明,猪卵母细胞在ICSI后需要辅助激活来启动胚胎顺利发育,A23187+6-DMAP激活效果较好。液氮冻融精子可以促进ICSI后雄原核的形成。半胱氨酸处理4 h对猪ICSI卵母细胞受精和发育均有促进作用。     

In vitro developmental potential of nuclear transfer embryos cloned with enucleation methods using pre-denuded bovine oocytes

Enucleation of a recipient oocyte is an important essential process in the procedure of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The present study investigated a method for the improvement of enucleation efficiency. Oocytes were denuded of cumulus cells before the completion of nuclear maturation (pre-denuded) after 12 h of culture at MI stage and subsequently cultured for additional 6 h until the completion of nuclear maturation and extrusion of the first polar body (PB1). The extrusion rate of PB1 was not significantly different in the pre-denuded oocyte group, compared with control oocyte group matured for 18 h. However, the number of oocytes showing the metaphase II (MII) located just underneath the PB1 was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the pre-denuded oocyte group than those in control oocyte group. To test the effect of pre-denuding on the enucleation rate and developmental potential of embryos to blastocyst stage, subsequent somatic cell nuclear transfer comparisons were made with three different methods of enucleation at MII stage using vital dyes (demicoline and Hoescht) or the PB1 (blind enucleation) to localize the chromosome plate. Enucleation rate of the oocytes with demicoline, Hoechst and pre-denuding enucleation groups were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of blind enucleation groups. However, cleavage rate to two-cell stage and, developmental rate to blastocyst and hatched blastocyst stage, the mean numbers of total and ICM cells in the SCNT embryos with Hoechst enucleation groups were significantly decreased (p<0.05), compared to those of blind, demicoline and pre-denuding enucleation groups. Moreover, the level of telomerase activity was also significantly (p<0.05) decreased in SCNT blastocysts of Hoechst enucleation group, compared to those of blind, demicoline and pre-denuding enucleation groups. Taken together, pre-denuding enucleation group using pre-denuded oocytes was a useful and simple enucleation method for bovine SCNT embryos.     

玻璃化冷冻牛卵母细胞单精子注射后体外发育能力的研究

实验研究了不同成熟培养时间的牛卵母细胞玻璃化冷冻及胞质内单精子注射(ICSI)后的受精效果。结果表明:成熟后的新鲜牛卵母细胞按照ICSI注射方法穿刺而不注射精子组与未经穿刺的对照组相比,孤雌激活后的卵裂率、囊胚发育率及囊胚细胞数无显著差异(P>0.05);成熟培养16h(MⅠ)和23h(MⅡ)卵母细胞冷冻解冻后形态正常率均显著低于新鲜对照组(76.66%、87.33%vs100.0%)(P<0.05),冷冻解冻后二者分别成熟培养至24h,ICSI后胚胎的囊胚发育率(5.29%、14.41%)显著低于新鲜对照组(24.40%)(P<0.05);成熟培养23h与成熟培养16h的卵母细胞冷冻解冻后形态正常率及ICSI后囊胚发育率(14.41%vs5.29%)均有显著性差异(P<0.05)。实验证明,ICSI操作不会影响卵母细胞发育潜力;玻璃化冷冻影响卵母细胞解冻后形态正常率以及ICSI后胚胎的发育能力;成熟培养23h比16h的卵母细胞冷冻保存后经ICSI的胚胎发育潜力高。     

Presence of nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity and mRNA in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) oocytes and embryos

This study examined the presence of immunoreactivity and mRNA for different nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms in immature and in vitro matured oocytes and in embryos at two‐, four‐ and eight‐cell, and morula and blastocyst stages in buffalo. Oocytes obtained from slaughterhouse buffalo ovaries were subjected to in vitro maturation in TCM‐199 + 10% FBS + 5 μg/ml pFSH + 1 μg/ml estradiol‐17β + 0.81 mm sodium pyruvate + 10% buffalo follicular fluid + 50 μg/ml gentamycin sulphate for 24 h in a CO₂ incubator (5% CO₂ in air) at 38.5°C. Following in vitro fertilization carried out by incubating them with 2–4 million spermatozoa/ml for 18 h, the presumed zygotes were cultured in mCR2aa medium containing 0.6% BSA and 10% FBS for up to 8 days post insemination. Immunofluorescence staining of NOS using antibodies that cross‐reacted either with all the NOS isoforms i.e., universal (uNOS) or specifically with inducible (iNOS) or endothelial (eNOS) isoforms revealed that NOS was present in oocytes and embryos at all the stages examined. Examination of the semi‐quantitative expression of NOS genes by RT‐PCR revealed that the iNOS, eNOS and nNOS mRNA was present in the immature and mature oocytes and in all the embryonic stages examined. In conclusion, it was demonstrated in the present study that immunoreactivity and mRNA for different NOS isoforms was present in buffalo oocytes and pre‐implantation stage embryos.     

不同品种牛卵泡液对水牛卵母细胞体外受精效果的影响

试验利用水牛卵泡液(BuFF)和黄牛卵泡液(BoFF)对不同来源水牛卵母细胞体外受精效果的影响进行了探讨,以完善水牛体外受精培养系统,进一步提高水牛胚胎体外生产效率。试验按成熟培养液中添加卵泡液替代胎牛血清量共分4个组。不添加卵泡液(0%+10%胎牛血清)为Ⅰ组(对照组);添加5%卵泡液+5%胎牛血清为Ⅱ组;添加10%卵泡液+0%胎牛血清为Ⅲ组;添加15%卵泡液+0%胎牛血清为Ⅳ组。结果表明,添加BuFF对活体采集卵母细胞和屠宰场收集卵母细胞的体外受精卵分裂率无显著影响(P0.05),但添加5%和10%BuFF对卵母细胞体外受精后的胚胎发育有明显促进作用,囊胚率均极显著高于对照组和15%BuFF组(P0.01),5%和10%BuFF组间无显著差异(P0.05);添加15%BuFF囊胚率有降低的趋势,但与对照组相比差异不显著(P0.05)。而添加10%BoFF组活体采集卵母细胞体外受精的受精卵分裂率和囊胚率均极显著高于对照组和5%BoFF组(P0.01),添加5%BoFF组的受精卵分裂率和囊胚率与对照组无显著差异(P0.05);添加BoFF对屠宰场收集水牛卵母细胞体外受精卵分裂率无显著差异(P0.05),但添加5%和10%BoFF组的囊胚率均显著高于对照组和15%组(P0.05),添加15%BoFF组与对照组相比,囊胚率显著降低(P0.05),5%和10%BoFF组间囊胚率无显著差异(P0.05)。综合以上结果,在水牛卵母细胞成熟培养液中添加5%～10%的BuFF或BoFF代替牛血清,可明显提高水牛体外胚胎生产效率,且以添加同种的BuFF效果略好。     

Efficiency of Two Enucleation Methods Connected to Handmade Cloning to Produce Transgenic Porcine Embryos

The purpose of our work was to establish an efficient-oriented enucleation method to produce transgenic embryos with handmade cloning (HMC). After 41–42 h oocytes maturation, the oocytes were further cultured with or without 0.4 μg/ml demecolcine for 45 min [chemically assisted handmade enucleation (CAHE) group vs polar body (PB) oriented handmade enucleation (OHE) group respectively]. After removal of the cumulus cells and partial digestion of the zona pellucida, oocytes with visible extrusion cones and/or polar bodies attached to the surface were subjected to oriented bisection. Putative cytoplasts without extrusion cones or PB were selected as recipients. Two cytoplasts were electrofused with one transgenic fibroblasts expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP), while non-transgenic fibroblasts were used as controls. Reconstructed embryos were cultured in Well of Wells (WOWs) with porcine zygote medium 3 (PZM-3) after activation. Cleavage and blastocyst rates were registered on day 2 and day 7 of in vitro culture respectively. Meanwhile, the total blastocyst cell number was counted on day 7. We found that the difference was only observed between blastocyst rates (38.6 ± 2% vs 48.1 ± 3%) of cloned embryos with GFP transgenic fibroblast cells after CAHE vs OHE. With adjusted time-lapse for zonae-free cloned embryos cultured in WOWs with PZM-3, it was obvious that in vitro developmental competence after CAHE was compromised when compared with the OHE method. OHE enucleation method seems to be a potential superior alternative method used for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) with transgenic fibroblast cells.     

兔·卵·母·细·胞·孤·雌·激·活·的·研·究

本研究探讨了兔卵母细胞孤雌激活的方法。兔卵母细胞经7%乙醇单独激活处理5min的卵裂率(13.0%),显著低于乙醇处理后在2mmol/LDMAP继续处理3h(48.1%)和5μmol/L离子霉素处理后在DMAP继续处理3h的卵母细胞(92.2%);离子霉素+DMAP处理组的囊胚发育率(27.1%)亦显著(P<0.05)高于乙醇+DMAP处理组(15.4%)和乙醇单独处理组(0%)。当用离子霉素和DMAP激活处理时,注射hCG后18h卵母细胞的卵裂率(92.1%)和囊胚率(35.3%)最高2,4h后卵母细胞的卵裂率(19.0%)和囊胚发育率(4.2%)均显著(P<0.05)下降。卵母细胞经离子霉素激活处理后,在DMAP继续处理1、35、h的卵裂率差异显著(P<0.05);而囊胚发育率无显著(P>0.05)差异。离子霉素和DMAP处理后再电激1次对卵母细胞的卵裂率(83.3%、80.0%)和囊胚率(30.0%、27.0%)无显著(P>0.05)影响。以上研究表明:离子霉素+DMAP是兔卵母细胞最有效的激活方法,注射hCG后18h的卵母细胞可取得较好的激活效果。     

应用ICSI技术生产转基因水牛胚胎的初步研究

本研究旨在探讨水牛精子完整质膜和破损质膜的方法对水牛单精子注射(ICSI)技术转基因效果的影响。水牛精子经冻融、Triton×-100、超声波3种方法破损精子质膜后与外源质粒DNA混合,采用ICSI的方法将基因转染后的精子注射到水牛体外成熟卵内,观察水牛ICSI卵激活后的发育状态和外源基因的表达效果。结果表明:精子质膜完整性实验中,冻融破损精子质膜组早期胚胎基因表达率为21.8%,显著高于活精子组的5.1%(P<0.01);冻融组与活精子组的卵裂率、囊胚发育率均无显著差异(P>0.05)。以冻融、Triton×-100、超声波3种方法破损精子质膜,冻融组的囊胚发育率(16.7%)最高,显著高于Triton×-100组(P<0.01)。同时,冻融组的早期胚胎基因表达率亦显著高于Triton×-100组和超声断尾组(60.3%vs.31.7%vs.18.2%,P<0.01)。上述结果说明,使用ICSI技术转外源基因可获得表达EGFP基因的水牛早期胚胎;冻融精子质膜破损法能有效破损精子质膜,有利于外源DNA与精子的结合,且提高转基因效率。