Coculture with porcine luteal cells during in vitro porcine oocyte maturation affects lipid content, cortical reaction and zona pellucida ultrastructure.

CONTEXT: In pigs, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is associated with high polyspermy rates, and for this reason, in vitro embryo production (IVP) is still an inefficient biotechnology. Coculture with somatic cells is an alternative to improve suboptimal in vitro maturation (IVM) conditions. AIM: This study was conducted to test a coculture system of porcine luteal cells (PLC) and cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) to improve oocyte metabolism. METHODS: COC were matured in vitro with PLC. Oocyte lipid content, mitochondrial activity, zona pellucida (ZP) digestibility and pore size, cortical reaction and in vitro embryo development were assessed. KEY RESULTS: Coculture reduced cytoplasmic lipid content in the oocyte cytoplasm without increasing mitochondrial activity. Although ZP digestibility and ZP pore number were not different between culture systems, ZP pores were smaller in the coculture. Coculture impacted the distribution of cortical granules as they were found immediately under the oolemma, and more of them had released their content in the ZP. Coculture with porcine luteal cells during IVM increased monospermic penetration and embryo development after IVF. CONCLUSIONS: The coculture of COC with PLC affects the metabolism of the oocyte and benefits monospermic penetration and embryo development. IMPLICATIONS: The coculture system with PLC could be an alternative for the conventional maturation medium in pigs.

Past, present and future of ICSI in livestock species.

During the past 2 decades, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has become a routine technique for clinical applications in humans. The widespread use among domestic species, however, has been limited to horses. In horses, ICSI is used to reproduce elite individuals and, as well as in humans, to mitigate or even circumvent reproductive barriers. Failures in superovulation and conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) have been the main reason for the use of this technology in horses. In pigs, ICSI has been successfully used to produce transgenic animals. A series of factors have resulted in implementation of ICSI in pigs: need to use zygotes for numerous technologies, complexity of collecting zygotes surgically, and problems of polyspermy when there is utilization of IVF procedures. Nevertheless, there have been very few additional reports confirming positive results with the use of ICSI in pigs. The ICSI procedure could be important for use in cattle of high genetic value by maximizing semen utilization, as well as for utilization of spermatozoa from prepubertal bulls, by providing the opportunity to shorten the generation interval. When attempting to utilize ICSI in ruminants, there are some biological limitations that need to be overcome if this procedure is going to be efficacious for making genetic improvements in livestock in the future. In this review article, there is an overview and projection of the methodologies and applications that are envisioned for ICSI utilization in these species in the future.

Assessing Tn5 and Sleeping Beauty for transpositional transgenesis by cytoplasmic injection into bovine and ovine zygotes.

Transgenic domestic animals represent an alternative to bioreactors for large-scale production of biopharmaceuticals and could also provide more accurate biomedical models than rodents. However, their generation remains inefficient. Recently, DNA transposons allowed improved transgenesis efficiencies in mice and pigs. In this work, Tn5 and Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon systems were evaluated for transgenesis by simple cytoplasmic injection in livestock zygotes. In the case of Tn5, the transposome complex of transposon nucleic acid and Tn5 protein was injected. In the case of SB, the supercoiled plasmids encoding a transposon and the SB transposase were co-injected. In vitro produced bovine zygotes were used to establish the cytoplasmic injection conditions. The in vitro cultured blastocysts were evaluated for reporter gene expression and genotyped. Subsequently, both transposon systems were injected in seasonally available ovine zygotes, employing transposons carrying the recombinant human factor IX driven by the beta-lactoglobulin promoter. The Tn5 approach did not result in transgenic lambs. In contrast, the Sleeping Beauty injection resulted in 2 lambs (29%) carrying the transgene. Both animals exhibited cellular mosaicism of the transgene. The extraembryonic tissues (placenta or umbilical cord) of three additional animals were also transgenic. These results show that transpositional transgenesis by cytoplasmic injection of SB transposon components can be applied for the production of transgenic lambs of pharmaceutical interest.

Efficient edition of the bovine PRNP prion gene in somatic cells and IVF embryos using the CRISPR/Cas9 system.

The recently developed engineered nucleases, such as zinc-finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated nuclease (Cas) 9, provide new opportunities for gene editing in a straightforward manner. However, few reports are available regarding CRISPR application and efficiency in cattle. Here, the CRISPR/Cas9 system was used with the aim of inducing knockout and knock-in alleles of the bovine PRNP gene, responsible for mad cow disease, both in bovine fetal fibroblasts and in IVF embryos. Five single-guide RNAs were designed to target 875 bp of PRNP exon 3, and all five were codelivered with Cas9. The feasibility of inducing homologous recombination (HR) was evaluated with a reporter vector carrying EGFP flanked by 1 kbp PRNP regions (pHRegfp). For somatic cells, plasmids coding for Cas9 and for each of the five single-guide RNAs (pCMVCas9 and pSPgRNAs) were transfected under two different conditions (1X and 2X). For IVF zygotes, cytoplasmic injection was conducted with either plasmids or mRNA. For plasmid injection groups, 1 pg pCMVCas9 + 0.1 pg of each pSPgRNA (DNA2X) was used per zygote. In the case of RNA, two amounts (RNA1X and RNA2X) were compared. To assess the occurrence of HR, a group additionally cotransfected or coinjected with pHRegfp plasmid was included. Somatic cell lysates were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction and surveyor assay. In the case of embryos, the in vitro development and the genotype of blastocysts were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. In somatic cells, 2X transfection resulted in indels and large deletions of the targeted PRNP region. Regarding embryo injection, higher blastocyst rates were obtained for RNA injected groups (46/103 [44.6%] and 55/116 [47.4%] for RNA1X and RNA2X) than for the DNA2X group (26/140 [18.6%], P < 0.05). In 46% (26/56) of the total sequenced blastocysts, specific gene editing was detected. The total number of genetic modifications (29) was higher than the total number of gene-edited embryos, as three blastocysts from the group RNA2X reported more than one type of modification. The modifications included indels (10/56; 17.9%) and large deletions (19/56; 33.9%). Moreover, it was possible to detect HR in 1/8 (12.5%) embryos treated with RNA2X. These results report that the CRISPR/Cas9 system can be applied for site-specific edition of the bovine genome, which could have a great impact on the development of large animals resistant to important zoonotic diseases.

Vesicles Cytoplasmic Injection: An Efficient Technique to Produce Porcine Transgene-Expressing Embryos.

The use of vesicles co-incubated with plasmids showed to improve the efficiency of cytoplasmic injection of transgenes in cattle. Here, this technique was tested as a simplified alternative for transgenes delivery in porcine zygotes. To this aim, cytoplasmic injection of the plasmid alone was compared to the injection with plasmids co-incubated with vesicles both in diploid parthenogenic and IVF zygotes. The plasmid pcx-egfp was injected circular (CP) at 3, 30 and 300 ng/µl and linear (LP) at 30 ng/µl. The experimental groups using parthenogenetic zygotes were as follows: CP naked at 3 ng/µl (N = 105), 30 ng/µl (N = 95) and 300 ng/µl (N = 65); Sham (N = 105); control not injected (N = 223); LP naked at 30 ng/µl (N = 78); LP vesicles (N = 115) and Sham vesicles (N = 59). For IVF zygotes: LP naked (N = 44) LP vesicles (N = 94), Sham (N = 59) and control (N = 79). Cleavage, blastocyst and GFP+ rates were analysed by Fisher's test (p < 0.05). The parthenogenic CP naked group showed lower cleavage respect to control (p < 0.05). The highest concentration of plasmids to allow development to blastocyst stage was 30 ng/µl. There were no differences in DNA fragmentation between groups. The parthenogenic LP naked group resulted in high GFP rates (46%) and also allowed the production of GFP blastocysts (33%). The cytoplasmic injection with LP vesicles into parthenogenic zygotes allowed 100% GFP blastocysts. Injected IVF showed higher cleavage rates than control (p < 0.05). In IVF zygotes, only the use of vesicles produced GFP blastocysts. The use of vesicles co-incubated with plasmids improves the transgene expression efficiency for cytoplasmic injection in porcine zygotes and constitutes a simple technique for easy delivery of plasmids.

Tiger, Bengal and Domestic Cat Embryos Produced by Homospecific and Interspecific Zona-Free Nuclear Transfer.

The aim of this study was to evaluate three different cloning strategies in the domestic cat (Felis silvestris) and to use the most efficient to generate wild felid embryos by interspecific cloning (iSCNT) using Bengal (a hybrid formed by the cross of Felis silvestris and Prionailurus bengalensis) and tiger (Panthera tigris) donor cells. In experiment 1, zona-free (ZP-free) cloning resulted in higher fusion and expanded blastocyst rates with respect to zona included cloning techniques that involved fusion or injection of the donor cell. In experiment 2, ZP-free iSCNT and embryo aggregation (2X) were assessed. Division velocity and blastocyst rates were increased by embryo aggregation in the three species. Despite fewer tiger embryos than Bengal and cat embryos reached the blastocyst stage, Tiger 2X group increased the percentage of blastocysts with respect to Tiger 1X group (3.2% vs 12.1%, respectively). Moreover, blastocyst cell number was almost duplicated in aggregated embryos with respect to non-aggregated ones within Bengal and tiger groups (278.3 ± 61.9 vs 516.8 ± 103.6 for Bengal 1X and Bengal 2X groups, respectively; 41 vs 220 ± 60 for Tiger 1X and Tiger 2X groups, respectively). OCT4 analysis also revealed that tiger blastocysts had higher proportion of OCT4-positive cells with respect to Bengal blastocysts and cat intracytoplasmic sperm injection blastocysts. In conclusion, ZP-free cloning has improved the quality of cat embryos with respect to the other cloning techniques evaluated and was successfully applied in iSCNT complemented with embryo aggregation.

Cheetah interspecific SCNT followed by embryo aggregation improves in vitro development but not pluripotent gene expression.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of domestic cat (Dc, Felis silvestris) oocytes to reprogram the nucleus of cheetah (Ch, Acinonyx jubatus) cells by interspecies SCNT (iSCNT), by using embryo aggregation. Dc oocytes were in vitro matured and subjected to zona pellucida free (ZP-free) SCNT or iSCNT, depending on whether the nucleus donor cell was of Dc or Ch respectively. ZP-free reconstructed embryos were then cultured in microwells individually (Dc1X and Ch1X groups) or in couples (Dc2X and Ch2X groups). Embryo aggregation improved in vitro development obtaining 27.4, 47.7, 16.7 and 28.3% of blastocyst rates in the Dc1X, Dc2X, Ch1X and Ch2X groups, respectively (P<0.05). Moreover, aggregation improved the morphological quality of blastocysts from the Dc2X over the Dc1X group. Gene expression analysis revealed that Ch1X and Ch2X blastocysts had significantly lower relative expression of OCT4, CDX2 and NANOG than the Dc1X, Dc2X and IVF control groups. The OCT4, NANOG, SOX2 and CDX2 genes were overexpressed in Dc1X blastocysts, but the relative expression of these four genes decreased in the Dc2X, reaching similar relative levels to those of Dc IVF blastocysts. In conclusion, Ch blastocysts were produced using Dc oocytes, but with lower relative expression of pluripotent and trophoblastic genes, indicating that nuclear reprogramming could be still incomplete. Despite this, embryo aggregation improved the development of Ch and Dc embryos, and normalized Dc gene expression, which suggests that this strategy could improve full-term developmental efficiency of cat and feline iSCNT embryos.

Phosphorylated H2AX in parthenogenetically activated, in vitro fertilized and cloned bovine embryos.

In vitro embryo production methods induce DNA damage in the embryos. In response to these injuries, histone H2AX is phosphorylated (γH2AX) and forms foci at the sites of DNA breaks to recruit repair proteins. In this work, we quantified the DNA damage in bovine embryos undergoing parthenogenetic activation (PA), in vitro fertilization (IVF) or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) by measuring γH2AX accumulation at different developmental stages: 1-cell, 2-cell and blastocyst. At the 1-cell stage, IVF embryos exhibited a greater number of γH2AX foci (606.1 ± 103.2) and greater area of γH2AX staining (12923.6 ± 3214.1) than did PA and SCNT embryos. No differences at the 2-cell stage were observed among embryo types. Although PA, IVF and SCNT were associated with different blastocyst formation rates (31.1%, 19.7% and 8.3%, P < 0.05), no differences in the number of γH2AX foci or area were detected among the treatments. γH2AX is detected in bovine preimplantation embryos produced by PA, IVF and SCNT; the amount of DNA damage was comparable among those embryos developing to the blastocyst stage among different methods for in vitro embryo production. While IVF resulted in increased damage at the 1-cell embryo stage, no difference was observed between PA and SCNT embryos at any developmental stage. The decrease in the number of double-stranded breaks at the blastocyst stage seems to indicate that DNA repair mechanisms are functional during embryo development.

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.

Effect of collection-maturation interval time and pregnancy status of donor mares on oocyte developmental competence in horse cloning.

The current limitations for obtaining ovaries from slaughterhouses and the low efficiency of in vivo follicular aspiration necessitate a complete understanding of the variables that affect oocyte developmental competence in the equine. For this reason, we assessed the effect on equine oocyte meiotic competence and the subsequent in vitro cloned embryo development of 1) the time interval between ovary collection and the onset of oocyte in vitro maturation (collection-maturation interval time) and 2) the pregnancy status of the donor mares. To define the collection-maturation interval time, collected oocytes were classified according to the slaughtering time and the pregnancy status of the mare. Maturation rate was recorded and some matured oocytes of each group were used to reconstruct zona free cloned embryos. Nuclear maturation rates were lower when the collection-maturation interval time exceeded 10 h as compared to 4 h (32/83 vs. 76/136, respectively; P = 0.0128) and when the donor mare was pregnant as compared to nonpregnant (53/146 vs. 177/329, respectively; P = 0.0004). Low rates of cleaved embryos were observed when the collection-maturation interval time exceeded 10 h as compared to 6 to 10 h (11/27 vs. 33/44, respectively; P = 0.0056), but the pregnancy status of donor mares did not affect cloned equine blastocyst development (3/49 vs. 1/27 for blastocyst rates of nonpregnant and pregnant groups, respectively; P = 1.00). These results indicate that, to apply assisted reproductive technologies in horses, oocytes should be harvested within approximately 10 h after ovary collection. Also, even though ovaries from pregnant mares are a potential source of oocytes, they should be processed at the end of the collection routine due to the lower collection and maturation rate in this group.

Production of chimeric embryos by aggregation of bovine egfp eight-cell stage blastomeres with two-cell fused and asynchronic embryos.

Embryo disaggregation allows the production of two to four identical offspring from a single cow embryo. In addition, embryo complementation has become the technique of choice to demonstrate the totipotency of embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. Therefore, the aim of this study was to generate a new and simple method by aggregation in the well-of-the-well system to direct each single enhanced green fluorescent protein (egfp) eight-cell blastomere derived from bovine in vitro fertilization embryos to the inner cell mass (ICM) of chimeras produced with fused and asynchronic embryos. To this end, the best conditions to generate in vitro fertilization-fused embryos were determined. Then, the fused (F) and nonfused (NF) embryos were aggregated in two distinct conditions: synchronically (S), with both transgenic and F embryos produced on the same day, and asynchronically (AS), with transgenic embryos produced one day before F embryos. The highest fusion and blastocysts rates were obtained with two pulses of 40 V. The 2ASF and 2ASNF groups showed the best number of blastocysts expressing the EGFP protein (48% and 41%, respectively). Furthermore, the 2ASF group induced the highest localization rates of the egfp-expressing blastomere in the ICM (6/13, 46% of ICM transgene-expressing blastocysts). This technique will have great application for multiplication of embryos of high genetic value or transgenic embryos and also with the generation of truly bovine embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells.

Simple gene transfer technique based on I-SceI meganuclease and cytoplasmic injection in IVF bovine embryos.

Although transgenic methods in mammals are inefficient, an easy and highly efficient transgenesis system using I-SceI meganuclease (intron-encoded endonuclease from S. cerevisiae) was recently described in Xenopus. The method consisted of injection into fertilized eggs of an I-SceI reaction mixture with a plasmid DNA carrying the transgene, flanked by the meganuclease recognition sites (pIS). In the present study, the effects of I-SceI on gene transfer were tested apparently for the first time in mammals, in particular, in cattle. Various conditions were evaluated, including three concentrations of the plasmid pIS Pax6egfp, carrying I-SceI recognition sites flanking egfp under Pax6 promoter and two injection times (before IVM and after IVF) of pIS CAGegfp, carrying I-SceI sites fanking egfp under CAG promoter. In addition, the quantity of transgene was measured using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and presence of transgene signals was evaluated using fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. Transgene expression rates were higher (P < 0.05) for groups treated after IVF (79.1%, 91/115 and 63.0%, 75/119) than before IVM (32.6%, 31/95 and 34.7%, 33/95), with and without I-SceI, respectively. Interestingly, injection with pIS plus I-SceI after IVF increased frequency (P < 0.05) of nonmosaic transgene-expressing embryos (58.3%, 42/72 vs. 29.7%, 25/84) for pIS plus I-SceI and pIS alone. Based on fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis, injection with I-SceI increased (P < 0.05) the proportion of embryos with transgene signals in all blastomeres compared with pIS alone (44.0%, 11/25 vs. 6.9%, 2/29) for pIS plus I-SceI and pIS alone. In addition, transgene copy number was numerically higher for the group treated with pIS plus I-SceI compared with pIS alone. In conclusion, I-SceI gene transfer increased transgene signals in bovine embryos.

Production of IVF transgene-expressing bovine embryos using a novel strategy based on cell cycle inhibitors.

The objective was to evaluate the effects of cell cycle inhibitors (6-dimethylaminopurine [DMAP], and dehydroleukodine [DhL]) on transgene expression efficiency and on mosaic expression patterns of IVF bovine zygotes cytoplasmically injected with oolema vesicles coincubated with transgene. The DNA damage induced by the transgene or cell cycle inhibitors was measured by detection of phosphorylated histone H2AX foci presence (marker of DNA double-stranded breaks). Cloning of egfp blastomeres was included to determine continuity of expression after additional rounds of cellular division. The pCX-EGFP [enhanced green fluorescent protein gene (EGFP) under the chimeric cytomegalovirus IE-chicken-ß-actin enhancer promoter control] gene plasmid (50 ng/µL) was injected alone (linear or circular exogenous DNA, leDNA and ceDNA, respectively) or associated with ooplasmic vesicles (leDNA-v or ceDNA-v). The effects of 2 mm DMAP or 1 µm DhL for 6 h (from 15 to 21 h post IVF) was evaluated for groups injected with vesicles. The DMAP increased (P < 0.05) egfp homogenous expression relative to transgene alone (21%, 18%, and 11% for leDNA-v + DMAP, leDNA-v, and leDNA, respectively) and also increased (P < 0.05) the phosphorylated histone H2AX foci area. Expression of egfp was higher (P < 0.05) for linear than for circular pCX-EGFP, and egfp blastocyst rates were higher (P < 0.05) for groups injected with linear transgene coincubated with vesicles than for linear transgene alone (95%, 77%, 84%, and 52% for leDNA-v + DMAP, leDNA-v + DhL, leDNA-v, and leDNA, respectively). Moreover, DMAP tended to improve egfp blastocysts rates for both circular and linear transgenes. Based on fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis, there was evidence of integration in egfp embryos. Finally, clones derived from leDNA-v + DMAP had the highest egfp expression rates (96%, 65%, and 65% for leDNA-v + DMAP, leDNA-v, and leDNA, respectively). Transgenesis by cytoplasmic injection of leDNA-v + DMAP is a promising alternative for transgenic animal production.

Procedure for maximizing oocyte harvest for in vitro embryo production in small ruminants.

Possible effects of repeated hormonal treatments and laparoscopic ovum pick-up (LOPU) on the efficiency of oocyte recovery rate and quality were determined in sheep and goats. In six adult Merino sheep and five Criolla goats, ovarian status was synchronized by a prostaglandin F(2 alpha) analogue and the insertion of an intravaginal sponge 48 h later. Follicle development was stimulated by a single dose of FSH (60 mg NIH-FSH-P1) plus a single dose of equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG; 300 UI). The first FSH/eCG doses were administered 48 h after the sponge insertion, being repeated every 4 days to complete a total of four treatments in sheep and three in goats. Follicles in both ovaries were categorized according to their diameter and follicular fluid was aspirated under laparoscopic observation without a vacuum pump. In sheep, during a 12-day-period, a total of 347 follicles were aspirated with a recovery rate of 46.9%. In goats, during an 8-day-period, 219 follicles were aspirated with a recovery rate of 45.6%. In both species, there were no significant differences in the number of aspirated follicles, oocyte recovery rate and good quality oocyte recovery rate. However, in sheep the oocyte recovery rate was higher for large follicles, whereas in goats no such effect was detected. In summary, current results indicate that retrieval of oocytes can be maximized, without affecting oocyte quality, by repeating 'oneshot' FSH/eCG regimes and LOPUs at intervals as short as 4 days.

Biochemical and developmental evidence that ooplasmic maturation of prepubertal bovine oocytes is compromised.

Our previous studies have shown that oocytes collected from prepubertal calves lack developmental competence. The overall objective of this study was to assess causes by comparing biochemical and physiologic changes during in vitro maturation of oocytes collected from ovaries of adult cattle at slaughter and from superstimulated calves (<6 mo old) by either laporotomy or ultrasound-guided follicular aspiration. Activity and/or concentrations of maturation-promoting factor (MPF), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP(3)R) were determined by measuring phosphorylation of histone H-1 kinase, phosphorylation of myelin basic protein, or Western blotting, respectively, and were compared between oocytes collected from calves and for those collected from cows. The activities of MPF and MAPK and the relative amount of IP(3)R were significantly lower in calf oocytes. The physiologic significance of these observations was determined by assessing the developmental potential of embryos derived by reciprocal transfer of metaphase II (M-II) chromosomes between cow and calf ooplasts and transfer of adult cumulus cells (G0/G1) into cow and calf ooplasts. Procedural controls consisted of transfer of M-II between adult oocytes and parthenogenic activation of adult and calf oocytes. Adult parthenogenically activated oocytes cleaved and developed to blastocysts at a higher rate than did similarly activated calf oocytes (42.1% vs. 3.4%, P < 0.05). Cleavage was also higher in reciprocal M-II transfer embryos containing adult ooplasm (46.2% vs. 12.0%, P < 0.05). Cleavage (66.7% vs. 21.9%, P < 0.05) and development to blastocyst (20.1% vs. 4.8%, P < 0.05) of nuclear transfer embryos reconstructed from adult cumulus cells was higher after transfer to adult ooplasts. Collectively, these results support the hypothesis that lack of developmental competence of calf oocytes is due to their failure or inability to complete ooplasmic maturation.

Changes in the cumulus-oocyte complex of subordinate follicles relative to follicular wave status in cattle.

We investigated factors that affect cumulus-oocyte complex (COC) morphology and oocyte developmental competence in subordinate follicles on different days after follicular wave emergence in beef heifers. In Experiment 1, heifers (n = 13) were assigned at random to COC aspiration during the growing/static (Days 1 to 3) or regressing (Day 5) phase of subordinate follicle development (follicular wave emergence = Day 0). Follicular wave emergence was induced by transvaginal ultrasound-guided follicular ablation, ovaries were collected at slaughter, all follicles > or = 2 mm except the dominant follicle were aspirated, and COC were microscopically evaluated for morphology. There was a greater percentage of COC with expanded cumulus layers on Day 5 (42.4%) than on Days 1 to 3 (2.2%). In Experiment 2, heifers (n = 64) at random stages of the estrous cycle had all follicles > or = 5 mm ablated and 4 d later, 2 doses of PGF were injected 12 h apart; heifers were monitored daily by ultrasonography for ovulation (Day 0 = follicular wave emergence). Heifers were assigned to the following time periods for oocyte collection from subordinate follicles: Days 0 and 1 (growing phase), Days 2, 3 and 4 (static phase), and Days 5 and 6 (regressing phase). Ovaries were individually collected at slaughter, and all follicles > or 2 mm except for the dominant follicle were aspirated. The COC were morphologically evaluated and then matured, fertilized and cultured in vitro. Expanded COC were more frequent during the regressing phase (53.4%) than the growing or static phase (14.4 and 17.8%, respectively; P < 0.05). While the proportions of COC with > or = 4 layers of cumulus cells and denuded oocytes were higher (P < 0.05) in the growing and static phases, the production of morulae was highest (P < 0.05) with COC collected from subordinate follicles during the regressing phase. In Experiment 3, heifers (n = 18) were assigned at random to oocyte collection from subordinate follicles 3 and 4 d (static phase) or 5 and 6 d (regressing phase) after follicular wave emergence. The heifers were monitored ultrasonically for ovulation (Day 0 = follicular wave emergence); COC were collected from all follicles (> or = 5 mm) except for the dominant follicle by transvaginal ultrasound-guided follicle aspiration 3 to 6 d later. Recovered oocytes were stained and examined microscopically to evaluate nuclear maturation. A higher proportion of oocytes collected on Days 5 and 6 showed evidence of nuclear maturation (50%) than on Days 3 and 4 (8.3%; P < 0.05). Results support the hypothesis that COC morphology and oocyte developmental competence change during the growing, static and regressing phases of subordinate follicle development.

Ovarian follicular wave synchronization and superstimulation in prepubertal calves.

Two experiments were designed to artificially alter the follicular wave pattern in calves to determine if the mechanisms controlling the well-ordered pattern of follicular growth in adults are extant in prepubertal animals as well. Experiment 1 was designed to test the hypothesis that follicle ablation in a random group of calves will induce synchronous emergence of a new follicular wave which is not different from a spontaneous wave. Experiment 2 was designed to test the hypothesis that ovarian superstimulatory response in calves is enhanced when treatment is initiated before rather than after the time of selection of the dominant follicle. In Experiment 1, 6-month-old calves were assigned randomly to an ablation group (n = 10) and a control group (no ablation, n = 10). Follicle ablation was accomplished by transvaginal ultrasound-guided needle aspiration of all follicles > or = 4 mm in diameter. Blood samples were taken and ovarian changes were monitored daily. A rise (P < 0.01) in mean plasma FSH concentration was detected 24 h after follicle ablation (1.51 ng/ml in the ablation group and 0.93 ng/ml in the control group). Wave emergence was detected earlier (P < 0.01) and with less variation (P < 0.0001) in the ablation group than the control group (1.2 +/- 0.1 vs 4.0 +/- 0.7 d). Characteristics of the induced wave were not different from those of the spontaneous wave. In Experiment 2, 7-month-old calves were assigned randomly to a pre-selection group in which superstimulation treatment was initiated at the time of wave emergence (1 d after follicle ablation, n = 11), or to a post-selection group in which superstimulation treatment was initiated after selection of a dominant follicle (4 d after follicle ablation, n = 11). Superstimulation treatment consisted of 30 mg of FSH im twice daily for 3 d. Ultrasound-guided transvaginal follicle ablation was used to synchronize follicle wave emergence at the outset of the experiment. The mean diameter of the largest follicle at the start of superstimulation treatment was 3.2 versus 8.5 mm in the pre- and post-selection groups, respectively (P < 0.001). The day after the last treatment, the number of follicles > or = 3 mm in diameter was greater (P < 0.002) in the pre-selection group than in the post-selection group (19.3 +/- 1.7 versus 11.3 +/- 1.3). In summary, ultrasound-guided follicle ablation resulted in synchronous wave emergence in a random group of calves, and superstimulation treatment initiated at the time of wave emergence (pre-selection group) resulted in the growth of more follicles than treatment initiated later (post-selection group). Mechanisms involved in the control of follicle recruitment, selection, and suppression are extant in calves, similar to those found in adults.

Comparative studies between freshly isolated and spontaneously immortalized bovine granulosa cells: protein secretion, steroid metabolism, and responsiveness to growth factors.

A bovine granulosa cell line (BGC-1) has been obtained by spontaneous immortalization of primary cultures. BGC-1 cells have retained some characteristics of primary cultures, such as the hormonal regulation of fibronectin biosynthesis. In the present study we have compared BGC-1 cells and primary cultures of bovine granulosa cells in terms of protein secretion, steroid metabolism, and mitogenic responses to growth factors. The pattern of protein secretion in BGC-1 cells was qualitatively similar to that of primary cultures. The main differences were a higher proportion of fibronectin and the relative amounts of several other unidentified proteins. Progesterone levels in BGC-1 cultures were undetectable. When BGC-1 cells and primary cultures were incubated with [3H]-pregnenolone, the former showed a lower conversion rate to progesterone. In contrast, the conversion rate of [3H]-progesterone to 5 alpha-reduced metabolites was markedly increased in BGC-1 cells. We also examined the effects of epidermal growth factor (EGF), insulin like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) on DNA synthesis under serum-free conditions. Both primary cultures and BGC-1 cells exhibited a stimulatory response to EGF and IGF-I on [3H]-thymidine incorporation. Neither BGC-1 cells nor primary cultures showed a significant response to TGF-beta when added alone. However, in the presence of a combination of EGF and IGF-I, TGF-beta displayed an inhibitory effect on primary cultures while it stimulated DNA synthesis in BGC-1 cells even further. The addition of conditioned medium from BGC-1 cells (BGC-1-CM) stimulated DNA synthesis on primary cultures to a greater extent than the addition of conditioned medium from primary cultures. These results suggest that BGC-1 cells may be a useful model to study the regulation of granulosa cell function during the period previous to the preovulatory stage of follicular development. The differential responses of the immortalized cells to growth regulators may offer some clues on the mechanisms that control cell proliferation in normal tissues.