Preliminary studies in our laboratory have indicated that modulating cumulus expansion early or late during culture has a profound influence on the subsequent development of cumulus-enclosed oocytes. Our objectives were to evaluate the effect of short term exposure to recombinant human follicle-stimulating hormone (r-hFSH) during in vitro maturation (IVM) on cumulus expansion and developmental competence of bovine oocytes. A highly significant (P < 0.0001) improvement in blastocyst development rate as a proportion of cleaved oocytes after IVM of oocytes was observed in the presence of r-hFSH for the first 6 hr of culture. To demonstrate the importance of the functional coupling between the oocyte and the cumulus compartment during that period of 6 hr, cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were matured with r-hFSH for the first 6 hr followed by 18 hr in presence of 1-heptanol or 1-octanol (gap junction inhibitors) to block the communication between the two. With the coupling inhibitors, the blastocyst yield was significantly decreased (P < 0.05). A brief treatment (30 min) with the weak base methylamine, known to reverse the gap junction inhibitors effect, significantly (P < 0.05) reversed the inhibitory action of these agents on the blastocyst rate. Gap junction communication between the oocyte and surrounding cumulus cells was further studied using microinjection of the fluorescent dye Lucifer Yellow. Morphological evidences (dye transfer) were obtained that support the presence of functional coupling for a longer period with the FSH short exposure. In conclusion, high developmental rates of bovine oocytes can be achieved with a short exposure to r-hFSH. This effect is believed to be mediated through gap junctions as developmental competence of oocytes is compromised by the inhibition of their function.

New insights into the early development of large mammals are becoming available through the measurement of differential mRNA levels in oocytes and preimplantation embryos. These advances in knowledge are rapidly picking up in pace, mainly owing to the advantages brought by new molecular biology approaches being developed. The possibility of amplifying the starting material and therefore making measurements in single embryo units is now feasible. With these tools, the evaluation of variations in gene expression patterns during the preimplantation period or the impact of culture on mRNA levels is now possible. However, it is important to keep in mind that these methods still have limitations associated with sample preparation or the use of the appropriate controls. Even proper methods of analysis are very important to achieve the full benefit of the application of these tools. The present paper describes some of the potential, as well as limitations, of mRNA level analysis in early embryos, especially for microarray analysis. We have generated a bovine cDNA array (>2000 clones) that contains expressed sequence tags (ESTs) collected from various preimplantation development stages. Using this chip, we have initiated the characterisation of global mRNA level patterns of several key developmental stages from the immature oocyte to the blastocyst stage. As expected, the hybridisation results indicate very different expression profiles involving hundreds of genes when comparing oocyte and blastocyst samples to a reference mRNA sample made from a pool of ESTs from pooled somatic tissues. Although this array is still in its preliminary stage and the EST bank has not been processed to contain only unigenes, it is already a very useful tool for discovering candidate genes that may play important roles during early embryonic life.

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Background Morphological evaluation of embryos has been used to screen embryos for transfer. However, the repeatability and accuracy of this method remains low. Thus, evaluation of an embryo’s gene expression signature with respect to its developmental capacity could provide new opportunities for embryo selection. Since the gene expression outline of an embryo is considered as an aggregate of its intrinsic characteristics and culture conditions, we have compared transcriptome profiles of in vivo and in vitro derived blastocysts in relation to pregnancy outcome to unravel the discrete effects of developmental competence and environmental conditions on bovine embryo gene expression outlines. To understand whether the gene expression patterns could be associated with blastocyst developmental competency, the global transcriptome profile of in vivo (CVO) and in vitro (CVT) derived competent blastocysts that resulted in pregnancy was investigated relative to that of in vivo (NVO) and in vitro (NVT) derived blastocysts which did not establish initial pregnancy, respectively while to unravel the effects of culture condition on the transcriptome profile of embryos, the transcriptional activity of the CVO group was compared to the CVT group and the NVO group was compared to the NVT ones. Results A total of 700 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between CVO and NVO blastocysts. These gene transcripts represent constitutive regions, indel variants, 3′-UTR sequence variants and novel transcript regions. The majority (82%) of these DEGs, including gene clusters like ATP synthases, eukaryotic translation initiation factors, ribosomal proteins, mitochondrial ribosomal proteins, NADH dehydrogenase and cytochrome c oxidase subunits were enriched in the CVO group. These DEGs were involved in pathways associated with glycolysis/glycogenesis, citrate acid cycle, pyruvate metabolism and oxidative phosphorylation. Similarly, a total of 218 genes were differentially expressed between CVT and NVT groups. Of these, 89%, including TPT1, PDIA6, HSP90AA1 and CALM, were downregulated in the CVT group and those DEGs were overrepresented in pathways related to protein processing, endoplasmic reticulum, spliceasome, ubiquitone mediated proteolysis and steroid biosynthesis. On the other hand, although both the CVT and CVO blastocyst groups resulted in pregnancy, a total of 937 genes were differential expressed between the two groups. Compared to CVO embryos, the CVT ones exhibited downregulation of gene clusters including ribosomal proteins, mitochondrial ribosomal protein, eukaryotic translation initiation factors, ATP synthases, NADH dehydrogenase and cytochrome c oxidases. Nonetheless, downregulation of these genes could be associated with pre and postnatal abnormalities observed after transfer of in vitro embryos. Conclusion The present study provides a detailed inventory of differentially expressed gene signatures and pathways specifically reflective of the developmental environment and future developmental capacities of bovine embryos suggesting that transcriptome activity observed in blastocysts could be indicative of further pregnancy success but also adaptation to culture environment.

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