Reproduction Abstracts

Activators of protein kinase A (PKA) signaling pathway have been frequently used to transiently stall meiosis at early phase of in vitro maturation (IVM) for balancing between cytoplasmic and nuclear maturation of mammalian embryos. Despite of the tight association of 6-diazo-5-oxo-l-norleucine (DON), an inhibitor of hyaluronan synthesis, with PKA cascade, few evidences has been provided concerning the role of DON as an IVM supplement with meiosis-stalling activity du...

Despite of the application of numerous supplements to improve in vitro culture (IVC) of mammalian cells, few studies have been conducted concerning the effect of fetal bovine serum (FBS) on early development of mammalian embryos. Thus, the current study was carried out to determine the effect of FBS on the developmental competence of porcine embryos and to establish the optimal treatment conditions. Unlike the treatment during full-term (1–6 days) or early phase ...

Although the beneficial roles of HDAC inhibitors (HDACis) in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) were known, few studies have conducted concerning the role of valproic acid (VPA) as an efficient HDACi for SCNT and its associated developmental event(s). Thus, the present study was carried out to determine the effect of VPA on developmental competence of bovine SCNT embryos and the underlying mechanism(s). We showed that the VPA treatment restored the histone acetylation level ...

The coupling of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been explored using a variety of biological systems, but little is known regarding their role in the early development of mammalian embryos. Here, we demonstrated that early embryonic development of in vitro-produced (IVP) bovine embryos was governed by the cooperative action between ROS and ER stress. Compared to 5% O2 tension, 20% O2 significantly decreased ...