Effects of UCHL1 Inhibition on Porcine Oocyte Matuation in vitro,Zona Pellucida Ubiquitination and Polyspermy

This study was aimed to examine the effects of UCHL1 inhibition on porcine oocyte maturation in vitro, zona pellucida (ZP) ubiquitination and polyspermy. DAPI staining, Hoechst staining and SDS-PAGE methods were used to detect the matuation rate of porcine oocytes in vitro, the level of ubiquitination of zona pellucida (ZP) and polyspermy. The results showed that after different concentrations UCHL1 inhibitor (10, 20, 25 and 30 μmol/L, DMSO and control group) were added into maturation medium for culturing 46 h in vitro, the mature rate of control group was 86.22%, while the maturation rate of 30 μmol/L group was 15.30%, and the maturation rate of every treatment group had significant difference (P<0.05). Western blotting result showed that every group generated ubiquitin markers of ZP were about 61, 80 and 106 ku in different degree. According to the analysis of gray value, the result had significant difference (P<0.05). Conducting fertilization in vitro, the number of sperm adhered on oocyte ZP in control group was the most, the number of sperm running into oocyte was fewer, the number of sperm adhered on oocyte ZP with 30 μmol/L UCHL1 inhibitor was the fewest, and there was almost no sperm running into the oocyte. The results showed that UCHL1 inhibitor had an impact on maturation of porcine oocytes in vitro. With the higher concentration of UCHL1, the lower degree of ZP protein ubiquitinated, UCHL1 could regulate sperm attachment and polyspermy.     

The effects of sperm–egg ratios on polyspermy in the blood clam,Tegillarca granosa

Polyspermy in Tegillarca granosa, which leads to failure or abnormal development of early embryos, appears to be directly related to varying sperm–egg ratios. We investigated the correlation between sperm–egg ratios and conditions of embryonic development by setting six strict sperm–egg ratios and subsequently scoring fertilization rate, abnormal rate, rates of trochophore and D‐shaped larvae. When sperm–egg ratios rose from 2 × 10²:1 to 1 × 10³:1, D‐shaped larvae rate dropped significantly from 78.8 ± 13.3% to 47.8 ± 14.9% (analysis of variance, P< 0.05), and to 3.6 ± 2.8% in the 2 × 10⁴:1 group. Using fluorescence microscope observation, polyspermy rates rose from 2.6 ± 0.8% to 72.9 ± 4.8% with increases in sperm–egg ratios. Sperm–egg ratios were therefore correlated with polyspermy rate, which seriously affected larval survival. Under the premise of higher fertilization rate, the sperm–egg ratios of ≤2 × 10²:1 appeared to be more beneficial for embryonic development of T. granosa.     

牛未成熟卵母细胞体外受精及染色体分析

收集不同供体牛的卵母细胞并分成两组。体外成熟培养16h为不完全成熟组；体外成熟培养24h为完全成熟组。结果显示，体外受精48h后，成熟组大部分胚胎发育到8细胞期和16细胞期，不完全成熟组的多数胚胎发育到2细胞期和4细胞期。染色体异常发生率显著高于成熟组。染色体异常表现为单倍体、多倍体和混合倍体。引起染色体异常发生的原因可能是由于精子穿入时透明带或卵母细胞膜的功能障碍所引起。     

斧文蛤精子超微结构与受精过程的细胞学变化

采用电镜和荧光显微镜技术,对斧文蛤精子超微结构与受精过程的细胞学变化进行了系统研究。电镜观察表明,斧文蛤精子为鞭毛型,全长45.2~47.7 μm,由头部、中段和尾部三部分组成。头部呈稍弯曲的狭茧形,长约2.5 μm,由顶体和细胞核组成,顶体呈圆锥形,内部中轴处有亚顶体腔;细胞核为长锥形,有核前窝和核后窝。中段由线粒体围绕中心粒复合体构成,5个近球形的线粒体呈单层梅花状排列;中心粒复合体由近端中心粒和远端中心粒组成,远端中心粒延伸出尾部的轴丝。尾部为细丝状鞭毛,内部的轴丝呈典型的“9+2”结构,外周有波浪状质膜包被。用荧光显微镜观察了斧文蛤受精及早期卵裂过程的细胞学变化,结果发现，斧文蛤成熟未受精卵呈圆球形,核相处于第一次成熟分裂中期;在水温27~28 ℃条件下受精,受精后6 min,精子入卵并膨胀成球形;受精后12~15 min、20~25 min受精卵排出第一、第二极体;30 min左右,精、卵核膨胀形成雄、雌原核;35 min,两性原核在卵子中央发生染色体联合;40~45 min,受精卵进行第一次卵裂,形成2个大小不等的分裂球;55~60 min,第二次卵裂结束,形成1大3小4个卵裂球,核相变化与第一次卵裂基本相同;75~80 min,第三次卵裂完成,自此次起开始进行螺旋分裂。另外,在斧文蛤受精过程中发现了约1%的多精入卵现象,其对成熟分裂和早期卵裂过程影响很大,常造成成熟分裂紊乱和第一次卵裂染色体分离异常。     

缢蛏受精和早期卵裂过程的细胞学变化观察

采用普通光镜、荧光显微镜和石蜡切片技术,对缢蛏受精和早期卵裂过程中的精子入卵、减数分裂、雌雄原核形成与结合、早期卵裂以及多精入卵等细胞学事件进行了显微观察。结果表明,缢蛏成熟未受精卵多呈圆球形或卵圆形,少数呈梨形,卵径为82～88μm,核相处于第一次成熟分裂中期;精子为典型的原生型,全长55～58μm,头部呈保龄球形,顶体前端的顶体杆呈特别细长的花丝状;在水温21～22℃、盐度10的条件下进行人工授精,精、卵混合后,精子迅速附着于卵子表面,启动卵子发育;受精后4～6 min,精子的头部已进入卵内并明显膨胀,卵子外形变圆,卵外附着的精子量明显减少;在受精后12～15 min、20～25 min,受精卵先后排出第一极体、第二极体,完成两次成熟分裂;第二次成熟分裂结束以后,精、卵核体积迅速膨胀,雄原核的膨胀早于雌原核,核膜重建,在受精后约30 min形成雌、雄原核;雌、雄原核均向卵子中央移动,雄原核旁边的精子星光清晰可见,随后二者在卵子中央以染色体联合的方式结合,联合核的染色体共同排列在纺锤体的赤道板上,形成第一次有丝分裂的中期分裂相;受精后40 min左右,受精卵进行第一次卵裂,染色体在纺锤丝的牵引下向两极移动,结果形成2个大小不等的卵裂球;受精后45～50 min,卵子进行第二次卵裂,核相变化与第一次卵裂相同,在与第一次卵裂垂直的纵轴方向上发生不等全裂,最终形成3小1大4个卵裂球;受精后60～70 min,胚胎进行第三次卵裂,仍为不等全裂,但自此次卵裂起已开始进行螺旋分裂。此外,对实验中发现的缢蛏极少量多精入卵、多极分离等异常细胞学现象进行了分析,并探讨了海洋贝类卵子阻止多精入卵发生的机制。     

Excess polyspermy reduces the ability of porcine oocytes to promote male pronuclear formation after in vitro fertilization

Male pronucleus (MPN) formation is a very important physiological event during fertilization, which affects in vitro production of transferrable embryos. The aim of this study was to find out the correlation between the number of penetrated sperm and the occurrence of failure of MPN formation in porcine oocytes. In vitro matured porcine oocytes were fertilized in vitro with frozen epididymal sperm. Two different frozen sperm lots were tested in this study, which were different in terms of polyspermy rates. The numbers and the status of penetrated sperm in oocytes were evaluated 10 h after insemination. Under high polyspermy condition, the polyspermy rate was 83.5% with an average mean of 3.5 sperms per penetrated oocyte, whereas the percentage of polyspermy was 65.5% with an average mean of 2.4 sperms per penetrated oocyte under moderate polyspermic condition. Correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between the number of penetrated sperm and their MPN formation percentage both in the sperm lot of high polyspermy (R = −0.560, p < 0.05) and in the sperm lot of moderate polyspermy (R = −0.405, p < 0.05) which suggests that penetration of excessive spermatozoa disables the oocyte cytoplasm to promote MPN formation.     

微流控技术在解决猪体外受精中多精入卵问题中的应用进展

凭借自动化、高灵敏度和高精确度的优势,微流体技术可以实现复杂精细的生物学实验流程控制,保证对试验现象与试验结果的实时准确获取。通过检索近年来微流体装置在哺乳动物卵母细胞体外成熟、体外受精以及胚胎体外培养中的研究报道,总结了微流控技术在哺乳动物胚胎学研究中的应用,提出了将微流控技术应用于猪体外受精技术,目的在于解决并克服猪体外受精中存在的多精入卵,为完善猪体外受精技术提供可行的解决方案,同时为人类医学辅助生殖技术的优化完善提供新思路。     

泥蚶受精和早期卵裂过程核行为的细胞学观察

利用石蜡切片技术,对泥蚶受精和早期卵裂过程核行为进行了系统地细胞学观察。泥蚶成熟未受精卵核相处于第一次成熟分裂中期;精卵混合后,精子迅速附着于卵子周围,受精后3 min左右精子入卵,启动成熟分裂,9~12 min排出第一极体、18~20 min排出第二极体,完成第一次和第二次成熟分裂;受精后25 min左右雌、雄性原核形成;受精后30 min左右雌、雄原核以原核联合的方式结合;受精后35 min左右第一次卵裂结束,形成2个大小不等的卵裂球;受精后45 min左右第二次卵裂结束,形成1大3小4个卵裂球。本研究发现了多精入卵现象,多个精子入卵可启动成熟分裂,排出第一、第二极体,形成多个雄性原核并与雌性原核联合,染色体分离紊乱形成多极纺锤体;对多精入卵的成因、发育结局进行了初步探讨。     

A new rolling culture‐based in vitro fertilization system capable of reducing polyspermy in porcine oocytes

The high incidence of polyspermy is one of the major obstacles during in vitro fertilization (IVF) in pigs. To overcome this, we developed a novel IVF method, which involves constant rotation. Oocytes matured in vitro were mixed with spermatozoa (0.2 × 10⁵ sperm/mL) in an IVF medium (200 μL) using a 200 μL PCR tube. This tube was then rotated at 1 rpm for 6 h at 38.5°C in a rotation mixer (experimental group). A second PCR tube was simultaneously cultured without rotation (control group). The rate of polyspermy was evaluated 12 h after insemination and was significantly (P < 0.05; 21.0% vs. 48.3%) lower in the experimental group than in the control group. Sperm penetration rate was similar in oocytes from the experimental and control groups (75.2% vs. 83.1%). However, monospermic fertilization rate of the oocytes was significantly (P < 0.05; 44.8% vs. 21.2%) higher in the experimental group than in the control group. Furthermore, the rate of blastocyst formation (30.1% vs. 20.8%) increased in the experimental group, as compared to the control group. This present system will contribute to increase the efficacy of blastocyst production through reduction of polyspermic penetration.     

Significance of the Epithelial Crypts at the Bovine Utero-Tubal Junction in the Pre-Ovulatory Phase of Sperm Regulation

Because Polyspermie fertilisation is a pathological condition in mammals, arising from an excess of spermatozoa at the site of initial sperm-egg contact and leading to early death of the embryo, consideration has been given to the manner whereby the utero-tubal junction may contribute to a reduction in the numbers of spermatozoa entering the Fallopian tubes. This seems especially important in cattle since the utero–tubal junction does not exhibit swollen polypoid processes that might act physically to reduce the number of spermatozoa entering the isthmus from the uterus. In tissues prepared from animals close to the time of Ovulation, large numbers of simple glands were visible in the uterine surface and throughout the region of the utero-tubal junction and its ridges extending into the isthmus. The glands appeared as crypts, slits or craters. On the basis of a figure of 500 glands situated close to the utero-tubal junction and some 2–10 spermatozoa located within each gland, these conservative estimates suggest a temporary arrest of 1–5×10³ spermatozoa, thereby contributing to the steeply diminishing sperm gradient before the site of fertilisation. There would thus appear to be a vital physical role for the simple glands and clefts that predominate in this region, functioning importantly in the pre–ovulatory interval to pave the way for normal mono– spermic fertilisation. More subtle forms of sperm regulation by glycoprotein molecules are also considered.