• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 1991

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of equilibration time, precooling and straw loading method on the post-thaw survival rates of mouse embryos cryopreserved by vitrification method. The effect of the vitrification procedure on the damage of the embryos was also examined by the straining of nuclei using Hoechst 33342. The results obtained were summarized as follows; 1. The equilibration in Medium-1 for 10 minutes was considered to be the optimum equilibration time. Embryos equilibrated in Medium-1 for 10 minutes(81.0%) showed significantly(P<0.05) higher survival rates than those equilibrated for 5 minutes(40.0%) or 15 minutes(74.1%). 2. The survival rate of embryos cryopreserved using the double Medium-2 column(81.0%) was significantly(P<0.01) higher than that using the single Medium-2 column, whish was considered to be due to the double Medium-2 column method being more reliable for preventing contamination of diluent solution of 1M sucrose. 3. The survival rate of compacted morula stage embryos cryopreserved with the precooled and non-precooled Medium-2 was not significantly(P<0.05) different. 4. The number of blastomeres of embryos at late blastocyst stage after culture of mouse morulae for 24 to 28hours was significantly(P<0.05) decreased by freezing embryos using vitrification(53.3${\pm}$1.6 vs 41.4${\pm}$1.5), which was considered to be due to the damage of embryos during vitrification and the delay of embryo development by handling in vitro. 5. The vitrification procedure is considered to be a very simple and efficient method for cryopreservation of embryos at early developmental stage.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2007

This study was conducted to examine the effects of energy substrates in different conoentration of carbohydrates in the human oviduct and uterus on the in vitro development of mouse 2-cell embryos. Two-cell embryos were collected from ICR female mice at $46{\sim}50\;hr$ after 5 IU hCG injection and cultured in three different media [control: 0 mM, Guoup A: glucose (G) 0.5 mM + pyruvate (P) 0.32 mM + lactate (L) 10.5 mM, Group B: G 3.15 mM + P 0.1 mM + L 5.83 mM] for 72 hr. Rates of morula formation of group A (72.3%) and B (56.6%) were significantly higher higher (p<0.05) than that of control (34.9%) at 24 hr. However, blastocyst rate was significantly higher (p<0.05) in control (51.8%) than group A (39.8%) and B (28.9%) at hr. At 72 hr, no differences were found in the number of zona-intact, zona-escape and total blastocysts among groups. Mean and ICM cell numbers were significantly higher (p<0.05) in group A (78.0, 13.4) and B (64.4, 11.8) than control (53.1, 5.7), respectively, The percent of ICM were significantly higher (p<0.05) in group A (22.9%) and B (23.7%) than control (14.2%). No differences were round in the TE cell numbers ($34.1{\sim}45.1$). The ICM:TE ratio was significantly higher $34.1{\sim}45.1$ in control (1:6.0) than group A (1:3.4) and B (1:3.4). This study shows that energy substrates added to culture media especially, the oviductal level of carbohydrates increase the developmental capacity of 2-cell mouse embryos.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.281-291
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• 1999

The objective of this study was to optimize the freezing/thawing method of in vitro produced Hanwoo blastocysts. Day 7 blastocysts after IVF were vitrified using EFS40 (40% ethylene glycol, 18% ficoll, 0.3 M sucrose and 10% FBS added m-DPBS) as a freezing solution and electron microscope (EM) grid (V-G) or straw (V-S) as an embryo container. In both method, freezing/thawing were treated by 2-step, treatment time was required in V-G method and V-S method, for 2 min / 3 min and 3.5 min / 10 min, respectively. Embryo survival was assessed as re-expanded and hatched rates at 24 h and 48 h after warming, respectively. The results obtained in these experiments were summarized as follows: when the effect of exposure in vitrification solution and chilling injury from freezing procedure on in vitro produced expanded blastocysts were examined, at 24 h after warming, embryo survival in exposure group (100.0%) was not different compared to that in control group (100.0%), although those results were significantly different with two vitrified groups (V-G: 87.8, V-S: 77.8%) (P＜0.001). However, at 48 h after warming, hatched rates of V-G group (67.8%) were significantly higher than those of V-S group (53.3%) (P＜0.05). In addition, this hatched rate in V-G group was not different with that in exposure group (73.3%). When the effects of embryo developmental stage (early, expanded and early hatching blastocysts) and embryo container (EM grid and straw) to the in vitro survival of vitrified-warmed day 7 Hanwoo blastocysts were simultaneously examined, fast developed embryos were indicated the better resistance to freezing than delayed developed one, irrespective of embryo containers (early; 57.1 ＆ 24.4%, expanded; 84.7 ＆ 60.6%, early hatching; 91.7 ＆ 80.0%) (P＜0.001). Especially, in expanded and early hatching blastocysts, embryo survival of V-G group (67.8, 95.0%) was significantly higher than those of V-S group (53.0, 65.0%) at 48 h post warming, respectively (P＜0.05, P＜0.001). Therefore, this study indicates that Hanwoo blastocysts can be cryopreserved more simple, efficient and successful by vitrification method using EM grid.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.11-17
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• 1998

This study was carried out to investigate the in vivo developmental potential of mouse zona-hatched blastocysts (HBs). The HBs were cultured in vitro until day 5 and day 6 from zygotes produced in vivo and classified to small (S-HBs), medium (M-HBs) and large (L-HBs) on the basis of embryo diameters. The results obtained in these experiments were summarized as follows ; 1) when the blastocysts at day 4 were further cultured for $24\sim48hr$, HBs obtained at day 5 and day 6 culture in vitro were 29.1% and 22.8%, respectively. 2) Also, when the total cell number of HBs were counted, cell numbers of classified HBs on day 5 and day 6 to small ($77.3\pm5.3$, $59.6\pm4.4$), medium ($83.7\pm4.0$, $66.8\pm3.5$) and large ($100.7\pm2.6$, $88.9\pm3.8$) were increased as their size increases. Especially, there were significantly different between S-HBs and L-HBs (p<0.01). 3) In addition, when the classified HBs were transferred into when the classified HBs were transferred into day 3 pseudopregnant recipients, the pregnancy and implantation rates of S-HBs (28.6%, 15.7%), M-HBs (44.4%, 30.9%) and L-HBs (62.5%, 49.1%) at day 5 were increased as their size increases. However, this pattern was not showed in embryo transfer of day 6 HBs. But, when the live fetuses formation against total implantation rates were observed, the result (87.5%) of S-HBs of day 5 was significantly higher than that of the others (p<0.01). Therefore, this study demonstrates that in vitro cultured healthy HBs can not only be developed normally with good pregnancy rates, implantation rates and live fetuses formation, but also served as a fundamental data for utility of supernumerary HBs in human blastocyst transfer.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.141-148
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• 1999

This study was to test whether the viability of bovine hatched blastocysts (HBs) can be maintained after vitrification and thawing. The HBs were produced in vitro at Day 9 and Day 10 after IVF, and they were classified to small (S-HBs; ø$\leq$300 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$) and large(L-HBs; ø＞300 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$) on the basis of embryo diameter using eyepiece micrometer. As freezing solution, we used EFS35 which consisted of 35% ethylene glycol (EG), 18% ficoll, 0.3 M sucrose and 10% FBS added in mDPBS. Vitrification was taken by two-step method, the HBs were equilibrated in 10% EG for 5 minutes and then shortly exposed in EFS35 and plunged into L$N_2$for 30~45 sec. After thawing, the survival rates were assessed by the re-expansion of the blastocoel during 2 h and 16 h of culture. The results obtained in these experiments were summarized as follows; 1) When the blastocysts(40.8%) recovered at Day 8 after IVF were further cultured for 24 h(Day 9 after IVF) and 48 h(Day 10 after IVF), the rates of HBs were 20.5% and 6.7%, respectively. Also, the total cell number of HBs on Day 9 was significantly higher than that of HBs on Day 10 (p＜0.01). 2) When the effects of freezing solution to the survival of Day 9 L-HBs were examined, the rate of vitrified group (75.7%) was significantly lower than 100% of control and exposed group(p＜0.05). 3) When the survival rates of vitrified HBs according to size and developmental age were examined, the data of L-HBs (75.5%) and S-HBs(63.6%) on Day 9 were slightly higher than those of L-HBs(64.3%) and S-HBs(60.7%) on Day 10. 4) Also, when the in vitro survival of Day 9 HBs was evaluated under different culture condition after thawing, the result in culture medium only (79.3%) was significantly higher than 43.2% in co-culture group (p＜0.05). These results demonstrated that bovine HBs can be successfully cryopreserved by two-step vitrification method using EFS35.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.103-110
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• 2010

The first morphogenetic event of preimplantation development, compaction, was required efficient production of porcine embryos in vitro. Compaction of the porcine embryo, which takes place at post 4-cell stage, is dependent upon the adhesion molecule E-cadherin. The E-cadherin through ${\beta}$-catenin contributes to stable cell-cell adhesion. Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) signaling was found to support the integrity of E-cadherin based cell contacts. In this study, we traced the effects of ROCK-1 on early embryonic development and structural integrity of blastocysts in pigs. Then, in order to gain new insights into the process of compaction, we also examined whether ROCK-1 signaling is involved in the regulation of the compaction mediated by E-cadherin of cellular adhesion molecules. As a result, real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of ROCK-1 mRNA was presented throughout porcine preimplantation stages, but not expressed as consistent levels. Thus, we investigated the blastocyst formation of porcine embryos treated with LPA and Y27632. Blastocysts formation and their qualities in LPA treated group increased significantly compared to those in the Y27632-treated group (p < 0.05). Then, to determine whether ROCK-1 associates embryonic compaction, we explored the effect of activator and/or inhibitor of ROCK-1 on compaction of embryos in pigs. The rate of compacted morula in LPA treated group was increased compared to that in the Y27632-treated group (39.7 vs 12.0%). Furthermore, we investigated the localization and expression pattern of E-cadherin at 4-cell stage porcine embryos in both LPA- and Y27632-treated groups by immunocytochemical analysis and Western blot analysis. The expression of E-cadherin was increased in LPA-treated group compared to that in the Y27632-treated group. The localization of E-cadherin in LPA-treated group was enriched in part of blastomere contacts compared to that Y27632-treated group. ROCK-1 as a crucial mediator of embryo compaction may plays an important role in regulating compaction through E-cadherin of the cell adhesion during the porcine preimplantation embryo. We concluded that ROCK-1 gene may affect the developmental potential of porcine blastocysts through regulating embryonic compaction.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.181-184
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• 2010

Osmolarity of culture media is one of the most important factors affecting in vitro development. This study was conducted to investigate the DNA methylation status of Pre-1 and satellite sequence in pig nuclear transfer (pNT) embryos produced under different osmolarity culture conditions. Control group of pNT embryos was cultured in PZM-3 for six days. Other two treatment groups of pNT embryos were cultured in modified PZM-3 with 138 mM NaG or 0.05M sucrose (mPZM-3, 320 mOsmol) for two days, and then cultured in PZM-3 (270 mOsmol) for four days. Previous our studies have reported that pNT embryos cultured in both hypertonic media showed significantly higher blastocyst formation rate than that of control. The DNA methylation status of the satellite sequences in blastocyst was characterized using bisulfite-sequencing technology. The satellite region had a similar methylation pattern of in vivo blastocyst among two culture groups excepting the control group. Each level of methylation is that the satellite DNA moderately methylated (43.10% of PZM-3; 56.12% of NaCl; 55.06% of sucrose; 60.00% of in vivo embryos). As a result of the sequence of PRE-1, CpG methylation pattern was similar to three groups, including in vivo group. In case of the satellite DNA region, the osmolarity conditions were affected CpG DNA methylation status while PRE-1 sequence was not affected CpG DNA methylation in pNT blastocyst stage. These results indicate that the modification of osmolarity in a culture media may influence to spatially change of DNA methylation of repetitive sequence for pNT embryo development.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.289-298
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• 2015

Edaravone (Eda) is a potent scavenger of inhibiting free radicals including hydroxyl radicals ($H_2O_2$). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as $H_2O_2$ can alter most kinds of cellular molecules such as lipids, proteins and nucleic acids, cellular apoptosis. In addition, oxidative stress from over-production of ROS is involved in the defective embryo development of porcine. Previous study reported that Eda has protective effects against oxidative stress-like cellular damage. However, the effect of Eda on the preimplantation porcine embryos development under oxidative stress is unclear. Therefore, in this study, the effects of Eda on blastocyst development, expression levels of ROS, and apoptotic index were first investigated in preimplantation porcine embryos. After in vitro fertilization, porcine embryos were cultured for 6 days in PZM medium with Eda ($10{\mu}M$), $H_2O_2$ ($200{\mu}M$), and Eda+$H_2O_2$ treated group, respectively. Rate of blastocyst development was significantly increased (P<0.05) in the Eda treated group compared with only $H_2O_2$ treated group. And, we measured intracellular levels of ROS by DCF-DA staining methods and investigated numbers of apoptotic nuclei by TUNEL assay analysis is in porcine blastocyst, respectively. Both intracellular ROS levels and the numbers of apoptotic nucleic were significantly decreased (P<0.05) in porcine blastocysts cultured with Eda ($10{\mu}M$). More over, the total cell number of blastocysts were significantly increased (P<0.05) in the Eda-treated group compared with untreated group and the only $H_2O_2$ treated group. Based on the results, Eda was related to regulate as antioxidant-like function according to the reducing ROS levels during preimplantation periods. Also, Eda is beneficial for developmental competence and preimplantation quality of porcine embryos. Therefore, we concluded that Eda has protective effect to ROS derived apoptotic stress in preimplantation porcine embryos.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.102-102
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• 2002

Heparin-bindin epidermal growth factor (HB-EGF) is one of the EGF family to be expressed at the time of implantation in the mouse uterus. Although HB-EGF has been shown to stimulate the development of embryo and uterus in the mouse, its correlation between cell adhesion molecules remains undefined. Integrin $\alpha$$_{ν}$$\beta$$_3$, one of the cell adhesion molecules, is an important mediator of cell-substratum and cell-cell adhesion in implantation. In the present studies, we investigated the effects of HB-EGF on the embryonic development, initiation of implantation and expression of integrin $\alpha$$_{ν}$$\beta$$_3$ in in vitro culture, blocking of HB-EGF, RT-PCR and immunofluores cence analysis. The results showed that HB-EGF significantly improved the developmental rate of hatched embryos (24.1%, p<0.01) and outgrowth embryos (42.5%, p<0.01). On the other hand, this growth factor showed no offset before the hatching embryonic stage. Analysis of RT-PCR showed that HB-EGF upregulated the expression level of integrina $\alpha$$_{ν}$$\beta$$_3$ subunit genes on the preimplantation embryo and outgrowth of blastocyst (120hr and 144hr after hCG injection). Immunofluorescence analysis showed that the integrin $\alpha$$_{ν}$$\beta$$_3$ subunits localized at the pericellular borders and cell-cell contact areas. Increase in fluorescence intensity was observed in the HB-EGF treated embryos. Intrauterine injection of an anti-HB-EGF antiserum at day 3 significantly decreased the number of implantation sites (14.4, p<0.01) and significantly increased the number of recovered embryos(6.4, p<0.05) at day 5. From these results, it imply that HB-EGF improve the embryo development and accelerated the expression of integrin $\alpha$$_{ν}$$\beta$$_3$ in the preimplantation mouse embryos.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2009

The objectives of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the bacteria eliminated sperm by percoll gradient method on sperm quality and embryo cleavage in vitro in pig. The semen of miniature pig collected by gloved-hand method pre-warmed ($37^{\circ}C$) in thermos bottle, and separated by 65% percoll. Analysis of sperm ability was estimated by examining viability, capacitation and acrosome reaction using chlortetracycline (CTC) and the abnormality. Also, fertility of sperm was monitored with cleavage rate of embryo after IVF using separated and un-separated sperm by percoll. The result, viability of separated sperm was significantly(p<0.05) higher($83.6{\pm}$2.0 vs $59.0{\pm}4.4%$) than un-separated sperm. The results of CTC analysis showed the percentage of F- and B-patterned separated sperm was higher in separated that than un-separated sperm. On the contrary, the percentage of AR-patterned form unseparaed sperm was significantly(p<0.05) higher($13.6{\pm}0.8$ vs $8.1{\pm}0.6%$) than separated sperm. Also, abnormality of un-separated sperm was significantly(p<0.05) higher($2.2{\pm}0.4$ vs $16.8{\pm}2.8%$) than separated sperm. However, the cleavage rates of embryo using separated sperm by percoll and un-separated sperm had not significantly difference on 2 cell stage(9.25 vs 11.88%), 4 cell stage(26.76 vs 24.51%) and >4 cell stage(63.99 vs 63.61%) at 48h of IVF. Therefore, the sperm separated by percoll method showed improvement in sperm quality than un-separated sperm in miniature pig.