超低温冷冻对牛卵母细胞组蛋白乙酰化和膜蛋白CD9表达的影响

本试验旨在探讨玻璃化冷冻对牛体外成熟卵母细胞(MⅡ期)组蛋白乙酰化和膜蛋白CD9表达的影响。牛MⅡ期卵母细胞采用OPS法冷冻,即卵母细胞于10%EG+10%DMSO溶液中预处理30s,然后再移入玻璃化溶液EDFSF30中处理25s,以OPS为承载器投入液氮中。毒性组卵母细胞未投入液氮,其他过程与冷冻组相同,新鲜牛MⅡ期卵母细胞为对照组。卵母细胞解冻后,利用免疫荧光染色法检测存活细胞DNA组蛋白乙酰化;qRT-PCR和Western blot检测CD9mRNA蛋白的表达。结果表明:冷冻组卵母细胞形态正常率(93.8%)和存活率(92.7%)显著低于毒性组(100.0%,97.2%)和对照组(100.0%,98.5%)(P<0.05),而毒性组与对照组之间无显著差异。超低温冷冻后,卵母细胞DNA组蛋白乙酰化水平显著上升(P<0.05),CD9mRNA与蛋白表达显著降低(P<0.05)。以上显示,玻璃化冷冻不但降低了牛体外成熟卵母细胞的存活率,而且改变了DNA组蛋白乙酰化和膜蛋白CD9表达水平。     

小鼠4-细胞胚胎OPS法冷冻保存技术

在25℃室温和37℃恒温台条件下，利用玻璃化冷冻溶液EFS30、EFS40、EDFS30或EDFS40，对小鼠4-细胞胚胎进行玻璃化冷冻保存．以解冻后培养72h的囊胚发育率为其体外发育能力的考核指标，同时对解冻后培养1～3h的胚胎进行移植以判定其体内发育潜力。开放式拉长塑料细管（OPS）二步法冷冻保存，即胚胎首先移入预处理液（10％EG或10％EG＋10％DMSO）中平衡30s，再移入玻璃化溶液中洗涤后吸入OPS管中，分别经35、30或25s后直接投入液氮中冷冻保存。一步法冷冻保存则无需预处理液处理。结果表明，小鼠胚胎4-细胞一步法和二步法冷冻后囊胚最高发育率分别为87．7％和88.6％，与对照组（93.0％）差异不显著（P〉0．05）。利用最佳冷冻组获得的143枚胚胎移植于12只假妊娠50～60h的受体母鼠，结果有4只妊娠产仔17只，妊娠产仔率为42．5％（17／40），与对照组59．4％（19／32）差并不显著（P〉0.05）。     

小鼠囊胚和扩张囊胚玻璃化冷冻保存的研究

以6M甘油+6.5%PVP(V1)和8MEG+7%PVP(V2)为玻璃化溶液,采用细管法和OPS一步法对小鼠囊胚进行冷冻。结果表明:胚胎在玻璃化溶液中平衡20S显著高于平衡60S后的存活率(P<0.05);蔗糖四步法解冻后的发育率与蔗糖三步法冷冻解冻后的发育率差异不显著(P>0.0 5);用OPS三步法冷冻后(V2)的小鼠囊胚的体外发育率显著高于细管法和OPS一步法冷冻后的发育率(P<0.01);在OPS三步法冷冻过程中,平衡时间对胚胎冷冻后的发育率有一定的影响。     

小鼠囊胚和扩张囊胚玻璃化冷冻保存的研究

以6M甘油+6.5%PVP(V1)和8MEG+7%PVP(V2)为玻璃化溶液,采用细管法和OPS一步法对小鼠囊胚进行冷冻.结果表明:胚胎在玻璃化溶液中平衡20S显著高于平衡60S后的存活率(P＜0.05);蔗糖四步法解冻后的发育率与蔗糖三步法冷冻解冻后的发育率差异不显著(P＞0.05);用OPS三步法冷冻后(V2)的小鼠囊胚的体外发育率显著高于细管法和OPS一步法冷冻后的发育率(P＜0.01);在OPS三步法冷冻过程中,平衡时间对胚胎冷冻后的发育率有一定的影响.     

OPS玻璃化冷冻对小鼠四倍体胚胎体外发育的影响

为探究开放式拉长细管(OPS)玻璃化冷冻对四倍体胚胎发育的影响,本实验利用2-细胞胚胎电融合法制备四倍体胚胎,再对四倍体胚胎进行OPS玻璃化冷冻,分别观察记录二倍体胚胎、四倍体胚胎以及冷冻解冻后四倍体胚胎的发育情况。结果表明:2-细胞胚胎电融合效率为96.1%;二倍体胚胎组与电融合后四倍体胚胎组的囊胚率和孵化囊胚率差异不显著;冷冻解冻后四倍体胚胎的囊胚率(100%)与四倍体新鲜组(93.3%)差异不显著,其孵化囊胚率(72.3%)较新鲜组(64.9%)显著增高(P<0.05);四倍体冷冻解冻组的囊胚细胞数(31.96)与新鲜组(32.54)无显著差异;冷冻解冻后的四倍体早期囊胚进行体外培养时其发育速度比对照组更快。可见,冷冻对小鼠四倍体胚胎的囊胚率和囊胚细胞数均无显著影响,但孵化囊胚率显著提高,且OPS玻璃化冷冻后使四倍体胚胎的发育速度更快。     

OPS法与细管法冷冻小鼠胚胎的研究

用0.25 mL细管和OPS(open pu lled straw)管,对小鼠囊胚进行玻璃化冷冻,以比较2种方法的冷冻效果。结果表明,冷冻-解冻胚胎体外培养24 h后,2组的发育率分别为63.3%(31/49)和71.4%(55/77);OPS法在冻胚发育率上稍优于细管法,但无统计学差异(P>0.05);2组冷冻胚胎的培养发育率均显著低于鲜胚培养组94.3%的发育率(P<0.05)。采用OPS法冷冻小鼠8-细胞胚,其冻后培养发育率为55.6%,似乎要低于囊胚冷冻后的培养发育率,但差异不显著(P>0.05)。     

小鼠桑椹胚简易玻璃化冷冻技术再探讨

本试验继小鼠扩张囊胚玻璃化冷冻保存成功后，在室温（２５℃）下利用不同浓度的ＥＦＳ玻璃化溶液，对小鼠的桑椹胚简易玻璃化冷冻技术进行再探讨。结果是胚胎在１０％ＥＧ溶液中预先处理５分钟，再移入事先配置好含有ＥＦＳ３０的０．２５ｍｌ塑料细管中１分钟平衡后直接投入液氮中冷冻，解冻后获得的发育率最高（９４％）。冻胚移植后妊娠率和产仔率分别为５６％（９／１６）及４２％（４９／１１６）。与对照组相比差异不显著（Ｐ＞０．０５）     

小鼠2-细胞胚胎细管法和OPS法玻璃化冷冻保存技术的研究

本试验在室温 (2 0℃和 2 5℃ )条件下 ,利用不同浓度的玻璃化溶液 (EFS和EDFS) ,对小鼠 2 细胞胚胎进行细管法和OPS法玻璃化冷冻保存。在 2 0℃室温条件下 ,用EFS4 0平衡 1min细管一步法冷冻 ,解冻后囊胚发育率仅为35 .0 % ,和新鲜 2 细胞体外培养的对照组 (6 5 .0 % )的差异极显著 (P <0 .0 1)。当 2 细胞胚胎在 10 %EG +10 %D溶液中预处理 5min ,再移入EDFS中平衡 30s二步法冷冻保存 ,解冻后囊胚发育率达 4 7.8%～ 4 8.8% ;当室温升至2 5℃时 ,二步法冷冻保存后 2 细胞的囊胚发育率达到 5 2 .2 % ,与对照组无显著差异 (P >0 .0 5 )。改用OPS二步法EFS30冷冻组保存后的 2 细胞胚胎的囊胚发育率高达 6 2 .2 % ,为试验中的最佳组。用最佳细管法和OPS法冷冻组解冻后培养至囊胚移植给受体母鼠均获得产仔     

开放式拉长细管冷冻法对牛卵母细胞体外受精后发育的影响

在常规牛体外受精(IVF)技术的基础上,分别采用开放式拉长细管 (OPS,open pulled straw)法和细管法对未经成熟培养的卵丘卵母细胞(COCs)进行玻璃化冷冻,解冻后再进行体外成熟(IVM)、IVF和早期胚胎的体外培养(IVC)。结果表明,细管组和 OPS组的解冻后 COCs正常率分别为 59.4%±4.3%和 77.9%±4.1%(P<0 01);成熟率分别为48.2%±5.3%和66.0%±5.8%(P<0 01);卵裂率分别为18.5%±2.0%和32.8%±1.4%(P<0 01);8 细胞阶段的成功率分别为14.8%±2.5%和 24.8%±1.5%(P<0 01);桑椹胚发育率分别为 0 和5 3%±1.1%,明显低于未经冷冻的鲜卵组(21.0%±3.8%;P<0 01);囊胚发育率分别为0和4.0%,明显低于鲜卵组(P<0 01)。说明OPS玻璃化冷冻法可以使未经成熟培养的牛 COCs冷冻后获得桑椹胚和囊胚,但桑囊胚发育率仍较低,方法有待改进。     

以乙二醇为基础的玻璃化溶液对小鼠扩张囊胚的超低温保存

在家畜胚胎发育中，扩张囊胚是一个非常重要的阶段。其中在牛羊方面第一例成功的胚胎冷冻即是在这个阶段完成的。同时人们已发现在猪囊胚扩张后、胚胎的抗冻力也上升。近年来．通过体外成熟、受精和发育的方法来生产牛的扩张囊胚。然而牛胚胎不论是用各种玻璃化冷冻法还是传统的冷冻方法．效果一直不佳。在超低温冷冻保存的小鼠囊胚的发育率比８细胞胚胎直到桑椹胚阶段的胚胎都低。本研究的目的是利用乙二醇为主的玻璃化溶液探索小鼠扩张囊胚冷冻所需的最适条件。１材料和方法１，１扩张囊胚的收集将６～１２周龄的雌性ＩＣＲ小鼠饲养在明暗…     

影响玻璃化冷冻兔胚胎效果的一些因素

试验对影响玻璃化冷冻兔胚胎效果的一些因素进行探讨，以找出理想的玻璃化冷冻方法。在测试的５种玻璃化溶液中，含３５％乙二醇（ＥＧ）和１．０ｍｏｌ／Ｌ蔗糖的溶液（ＶＳ１）对胚胎的毒性最小。用ＶＳ１冷冻桑椹胚和囊胚的理想程序是：在室温下使胚胎分别在２０％ＥＧ和３５％ＥＧ中平衡２、３分钟后，移入ＶＳ１中，０．５分钟内（囊胚也可在２分钟后）投入液氮中冷冻。桑椹胚的存活率为９１．７％（３３／３６），囊胚的存活率为９７．１％（３３／３４）～９７．３％（３６／３７）。８～１６细胞胚胎的理想冷冻程序为：在室温下使胚胎在２０％ＥＧ、３５％ＥＧ中平衡２、３分钟，移入４℃的３７％ＥＧ＋１．０ｍｏｌ／Ｌ蔗糖溶液中平衡２分或１０分钟后冷冻，胚胎存活率分别为１００％（３７／３７）、８６．１％（３１／３６）。     

小鼠胚胎的玻璃化冷冻研究

用不同冷冻载体(玻璃管、塑料管和0.25 mL细管)及不同冷冻方法(程序化冷冻和玻璃化冷冻)对小鼠3.5 d~4 d桑椹胚和囊胚进行冷冻保存,并与不做任何冷冻保存处理直接培养进行对比。结果表明,使用玻璃管、塑料管和0.25 mL细管作为胚胎的承载材料进行玻璃化冷冻,效果差异不显著;采用程序化冷冻与OPS玻璃化冷冻法,对小鼠胚胎进行冷冻保存可以取得较好的结果。从而得出,用不同材质的冷冻载体进行玻璃化冷冻,可以获得与程序化冷冻相同的良好效果。     

绵羊体外成熟卵母细胞OPS法玻璃化冷冻保存试验

研究以EDFS30为玻璃化冷冻液,以卵母细胞解冻后孤雌激活和体外受精后的卵裂率、囊胚发育率作为评价指标,探讨了以OPS法玻璃化冷冻保存体外成熟绵羊卵母细胞的效果。结果表明:卵母细胞孤雌激活后的卵裂率,冷冻组(64.2%)显著(P<0.05)低于毒性组(76.7%)和对照组(79.1%),而毒性组和对照组无显著(P>0.05)差异;卵母细胞孤雌激活后的囊胚发育率,冷冻组(4.2%)和毒性组(5.8%)均显著(P<0.05)低于对照组(20.2%),毒性组和冷冻组无显著(P>0.05)差异;冷冻组和毒性试验组卵母细胞体外受精后的卵裂率和囊胚发育率(67.6%和7.1%;62.3%和9.1%)均显著低于对照组(78.4%和28.4%)(P<0.05),而毒性组和冷冻组无显著(P>0.05)差异。可见以EDFS30为玻璃化冷冻液,采用OPS法冷冻保存绵羊体外成熟卵母细胞会在一定程度上降低其受精能力和胚胎发育能力。     

黄牛卵母细胞和早期胚胎组蛋白乙酰化转移酶1表达模式研究

为探讨卵母细胞成熟及早期胚胎发育过程中组蛋白乙酰基转移酶(HAT1)的表达规律,研究应用实时定量PCR技术,检测了广西本地黄牛卵母细胞和附植前胚胎HAT1基因的表达情况。结果表明:HAT1基因在黄牛生发泡期(GV)卵母细胞、第2次减数分裂中期(MⅡ)卵母细胞、体外受精(IVF)胚胎2～4细胞、8～16细胞、桑葚胚和囊胚中的相对表达量分别为1.00、0.56、0.08、0.55、0.43和0.31,在孤雌激活(PA)胚胎的2～4细胞、8～16细胞、桑葚胚和囊胚中的相对表达量分别为0.55、0.55、0.48和0.46。HAT1在GV期相对表达量最高,在IVF胚胎中2～4细胞表达量最少(P<0.05)。由此可见,HAT1基因在黄牛卵母细胞成熟和早期胚胎阶段均有表达,GV期HAT1基因的表达最高,PA胚胎HAT1基因的表达较稳定。     

玻璃化冷冻对猪MⅡ卵母细胞皮质颗粒分布及其激活后胚胎发育能力的影响

本实验旨在探讨玻璃化冷冻保存对猪MⅡ期卵母细胞皮质颗粒分布和孤雌激活后早期胚胎发育能力的影响。实验将卵母细胞随机分为对照组、毒性实验组和冷冻组。采用EFS40和EDFS40两种玻璃化冷冻液处理,卵母细胞经恢复后对其进行染色,观察皮质颗粒的分布;并对另一部分卵母细胞实施孤雌激活,观察早期胚胎的发育。结果表明:毒性实验组和冷冻组卵母细胞皮质颗粒部分释放、完全释放的比例无显著差异,但均显著高于对照组(P<0.05)。不同毒性处理组和不同冷冻组间对皮质颗粒的分布无显著差异。与毒性实验组相比,冷冻处理组显著降低皮质颗粒在皮质区分布的比例(P<0.05)。EFS40毒性实验组孤雌激活后的存活率、卵裂率、囊胚发育率均显著高于EDFS40毒性实验组(86.6%vs.75.0%)、(61.8%vs.40.7%)、(30.2%vs.23.5%)(P<0.05)。EFS40冷冻组存活率显著高于EDFS40冷冻组,但均显著低于对照组。结果显示,抗冻保护剂处理和玻璃化冷冻均导致猪卵母细胞皮质颗粒释放,与EDFS40相比采用EFS40较适合猪MⅡ期卵母细胞冷冻保存。     

Expression of Interferon-tau mRNA in Bovine Embryos Derived from Different Procedures

Interferon-tau (IFN-τ) is a secreted conceptus protein which plays a critical role in the establishment of ruminant pregnancy by its antiluteolytic and antiviral effects. In the present study, we hypothesized that IFN-τ expression was temporally and spatially regulated in different pre-implantation embryos and the levels of IFN-τ expression were different among bovine embryos derived from parthenogenetic activation (PA), in vitro fertilization (IVF) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). By using in situ hybridization with Digoxingenin (DIG)-labelled IFN-τ cDNA as a probe, we detected IFN-τ mRNA in bovine embryos from days 3 to 9 in culture. However, the timing of the initiation of IFN-τ mRNA expression was different among PA, IVF and SCNT embryos. Interferon-τ mRNA was first expressed in 16-cell stage IVF embryos on day 4, in SCNT morula on day 5 and early PA blastocyst on day 6. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression levels of IFN-τ mRNA did not differ significantly among IVF, SCNT and PA embryos on day 7. In addition, freezing and thawing did not have a major impact either on IFN-τ mRNA expression in IVF or in vivo -produced bovine blastocysts.     

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. In vitro-derived embryos were cultured 48 hr up to 4–8 cell stage, thereafter were either slow frozen or vitrified. Propylene glycol (PG) alone was used as a cryoprotective agent (CPA) for slow freezing, and a mixture of PG and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were used as CPAs for vitrification. After thawing/warming, embryos were in vitro cultured additionally for 72 hr. The total time of in vitro culture was 120 hr for all the groups including non-frozen controls. Effects of both cryopreservation procedures on the subsequent embryo development and nuclear fragmentation rate in embryonic cells were compared. There was no significant differences among the percentages of embryos achieved morula and early blastocyst stage in frozen-thawed group (36.4% and 20.0%), in vitrified-warmed group (34.3% and 28.6%) and in controls (55.6% and 25.9%). Cell numbers as well as nuclear fragmentation rate did not differ in these three groups. Average lipid phase transition (LPT) temperature (T*) was found to be relatively low (–2.2 ± 1.3°C) for the domestic cat embryos. It is supposed that the low LPT of LDs may provide a good background for successful application of slow freezing to domestic cat embryos. Generally, our study indicates that slow freezing and vitrification are both applicable for domestic cat embryo cryopreservation.     

Insulin‐like growth factor I enhances the developmental competence of yak embryos by modulating aquaporin 3

The objective of our present study was to determine the effects of insulin‐like growth factor I (IGF‐I) on the development of yak (Bos grunniens) embryos after cumulus–oocyte complex (COC) vitrification and warming followed by in vitro fertilization (IVF). In Experiment 1, the yak COCs underwent vitrification and then IVF. Embryos were incubated in synthetic oviductal fluid (SOF) supplemented with four concentrations (0, 50, 100 and 200 ng/ml) of IGF‐I, while the yak COCs without vitrification or IGF‐I supplementation acted as the control group; the BAX, BCL‐2, AQP3mRNA and aquaporin 3 (AQP3) protein expression levels in the five groups of blastocysts were evaluated using quantitative real‐time PCR and immunofluorescence analyses. In Experiment 2, the groups described above were fertilized and incubated. The cleavage rate, blastocyst rate, total cell count per blastocyst and the rate of growth of the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) were evaluated. The results were as follows: (1) the AQP3 gene expression and protein expression in the control and 100 ng/ml IGF‐I treatment groups were the highest. (2) The BAX gene expression was the lowest and the BCL‐2 gene expression was the highest in the control and 100 ng/ml IGF‐I treatment groups. (3) The rates of cleavage and blastocysts in the control and 100 ng/ml IGF‐I groups were higher than those in the other three groups. The total cell count per blastocyst in the vitrified and warmed 100 ng/ml IGF‐I group (106.7 ± 4.9) and the control group (107.3 ± 4.2) was higher than that in the vitrified and warmed 0 ng/ml IGF‐I (91.2 ± 3.1), 50 ng/ml IGF‐I (92.3 ± 3.7) and 200 ng/ml IGF‐I (92.4 ± 3.7) groups. Therefore, we conclude that IGF‐I can improve yak blastocyst developmental ability, cytomembrane permeability and formation of the blastocyst cavity after COC vitrification by improving the BAX, BCL‐2 and AQP3 expression levels.     

Comparative Study between Slow Freezing and Vitrification of Mouse Embryos Using Different Cryoprotectants

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different cryoprotectants and different cryopreservation protocols on the development of mouse eight-cell embryos. Mouse eight-cell embryos were cryopreserved by using propylene glycerol (PROH), ethylene glycerol (EG), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or glycerol (G) as cryoprotectant with slow-freezing or Vit-Master vitrification protocol. After thawing, the survival rate, blastocyst formation rate and blastocyst hatching rate of the embryos were compared. When the mouse eight-cell embryos were cryopreserved by the slow-freezing, the survival rate, the blastocyst formation rate and the blastocyst hatching rate of the embryos with PROH were significantly higher than those of DMSO and G (p < 0.05, respectively), but not significantly different among those of DMSO, G and EG (p > 0.05, respectively), and not significantly different between those of PROH and EG (p > 0.05, respectively). When the mouse eight-cell embryos were cryopreserved by Vit-Master vitrification, the survival rate, the blastocyst formation rate and the blastocyst hatching rate of the embryos with EG were significantly higher than those of PROH, DMSO and G (p < 0.05, respectively). Yet, there were no significant differences among those of PROH, DMSO and G (p > 0.05, respectively). In conclusion, PROH was the optimal cryoprotectant for the cryopreservation of mouse eight-cell embryos by slow-freezing protocol. EG was the optimal cryoprotectant for the cryopresevation of mouse eight-cell embryos by Vit-Master vitrification protocol, which may be commonly used in clinical and laboratory practice.