Effects of gamete source and culture conditions on the competence of in vitro-produced embryos for post-transfer survival in cattle.

One limitation to the use of in vitro-produced embryos in cattle production systems is the fact that pregnancy rates after transfer to recipients are typically lower than when embryos produced in vivo are transferred. Conceptually, the oocyte and spermatozoon from which the embryo is derived could affect competence for post-transfer survival. There are sire differences in embryonic survival after transfer, but there is little evidence that an embryo's ability to establish pregnancy is determined by sex sorting of spermatozoa by flow cytometry. The role of the source of the oocyte as a determinant of embryonic survival after transfer has not been examined carefully. Conditions for embryo culture after fertilisation can have an impact on the ability of the embryo to establish pregnancy following transfer. Among the specific molecules produced in the reproductive tract of the cow that have been shown to improve competence of in vitro-produced embryos for post-transfer survival are colony-stimulating factor 2, insulin-like growth factor-1 (for recipients exposed to heat stress) and hyaluronan (for less-advanced embryos). There is also a report that embryo competence for post-transfer survival can be improved by inclusion of a carbon-activated air filtration system in the incubator used to culture embryos. Progress in developing culture systems to improve embryonic competence for survival after transfer would be hastened by the development of in vitro assays that accurately predict the potential of an embryo to establish pregnancy after transfer. A group of 52 genes has been identified that are differentially expressed in embryos that developed to term v. embryos that did not establish pregnancy. Perhaps a gene microarray consisting of these genes, alone or in combination with other genes, could be used to screen embryos for competence to establish pregnancy.

Can programmed cell death be induced in post-ejaculatory bull and stallion spermatozoa?

Apoptosis is common during spermatogenesis. Here, it was tested whether apoptosis could be induced in sperm after ejaculation. There were several lines of evidence to indicate that sperm are resistant to induction of apoptosis. First, incubation of bull sperm at temperatures characteristic of normothermia (38.5 degrees C) or heat shock (40 and 41 degrees C) for 4h did not increase the proportion of sperm positive for the TUNEL reaction. There was also no reduction in mitochondrial polarity caused by exposure to 40 or 41 degrees C. Incubation at 38.5 degrees C (least-squares mean+/-SEM=4.0+/-1.4%), 40 degrees C (6.2+/-1.4%), and 41 degrees C (7.0+/-1.4%) for 24h did increase the proportion of sperm that were TUNEL positive slightly as compared to non-incubated control sperm (1.0+/-1.4%). However, the increase in TUNEL labeling was not affected by incubation temperature and occurred even in the presence of the group II caspase inhibitor, z-DEVD-fmk. In addition, exposure of bull sperm to carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), which depolarizes mitochondrial membranes, did not increase TUNEL labeling. Stallion sperm were also resistant to increased TUNEL labeling in response to incubation at 41 degrees C for 4h or exposure to CCCP. Western blotting was performed to determine whether failure of induction of apoptosis was due to aberrant caspase activation. Procaspase-9 was detected in bull sperm, but cleavage to caspase-9 was not induced by short-term aging at 38.5, 40, or 41 degrees C, or exposure to CCCP. Procaspase-3 was not detected in bull spermatozoa. In conclusion, post-ejaculatory bull and stallion sperm were resistant to induction of apoptosis; this resistance, at least in bulls, was due to refractoriness of mitochondria to heat shock-induced depolarization, lack of activation of procaspase-9, and an absence of procaspase-3.

The block to apoptosis in bovine two-cell embryos involves inhibition of caspase-9 activation and caspase-mediated DNA damage.

The capacity of the preimplantation embryo to undergo apoptosis in response to external stimuli is developmentally regulated. Acquisition of apoptosis does not occur in the cow embryo until between the 8- and 16-cell stages. The purpose of the present experiments was to determine the mechanism by which apoptosis is blocked in the bovine two-cell embryo. Heat shock (41 degrees C for 15 h) did not increase activity of caspase-9 or group II caspases (caspase-2, -3, and -7) in two-cell embryos but did in day 5 embryos. Exposure of embryos to carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) to depolarize mitochondria resulted in activation of caspase-9 and group II caspases at both stages of development. For day 5 embryos, CCCP also increased the proportion of blastomeres that underwent DNA fragmentation as determined by the TUNEL assay. In contrast, CCCP did not increase TUNEL labeling when applied at the two-cell stage. In conclusion, failure of heat shock to increase caspase-9 and group II caspase activity in the two-cell embryo indicates that the signaling pathway leading to mitochondrial depolarization and caspase activation is inhibited at this stage of development. The fact that CCCP treatment of two-cell embryos induced caspase-9 and group II-caspase activity indicates that caspase activation is possible following mitochondrial depolarization. However, since CCCP did not increase TUNEL labeling of two-cell embryos, actions of group II-caspases to activate DNases is inhibited.