Effects of Melatonin on Gene Expression of IVM/IVF Porcine Embryos

The effect of melatonin on in vitro embryo development and the expression of antioxidant enzyme gene in preimplantation porcine embryos was determined by modified semi-quantitative single cell RT-PCR. Porcine embryos derived from in vitro maturation /in vitro fertilization were cultured in 5% $CO_2$ and 20% $O_2$ at $37^{\circ}C$ in NCSU23 medium. Melatonin was added to medium at concentration of 1nM, 5 nM, and 10 nM. When treated with 1nM (39.0%) of melatonin, the developmental rate of embryos beyond the morula stage were higher than that of control group (31.0%) (p<0.05). Number of inner cell mass and tropectoderm cell in control (23.0${\pm}$0.5 and 17.3${\pm}$0.8), 1 nM (23.6${\pm}$0.6 and 19.0${\pm}$0.5), and 5 nM (23.3${\pm}$1.1 and 16.3${\pm}$0.8) treated with melatonin were higher than in 10 nM (20.0${\pm}$0.5 and 13.3${\pm}$0.8) treated with melatonin (p<0.05). To develop an mRNA phenotypic map for the expression of catalase, bax and caspase-3, single cell RT-PCR analysis were carried out in porcine IVM/IVF embryo. Catalase was detected in 0, 1 and 5 nM supplemented with melatonin, but bax and caspase-3 were detected in 10 nM treated with melatonin.