Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: We aimed to establish an efficient in vitro fertilization (IVF) system without optimization of sperm concentration of individual bulls, which can obtain stable fertilization and development. We examined the effects of PHE mixture (20 μM D-penicillamine, 10 μM hypotaurine, and 1 μM epinephrine), theophylline (2.5 mM), and sperm concentrations (1, 2, or 5×106 spermatozoa/ml) on fertilization and development of bovine oocytes ...

Oocytes of domestic mammals present high concentrations of lipids, and this is particularly evident in porcine oocytes that exhibit higher levels than other species, becoming more susceptible to oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. Considering that melatonin is an effective antioxidant for protecting macromolecules against oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS), the purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of melatonin supplementation during...

Porcine spermatogonia can develop to sperm in neonatal testicular tissue that were cryopreserved and grafted into nude mice. Live piglets were born from zygotes produced by intracytoplasmic sperm injection using these sperm (Kaneko et al. PLoS ONE, 2013). Utilization of fetal tissue will give us valuable chances for conservation of genetic resources and also for improvement of testicular xenografting. We aimed to examine whether porcine fetal testis can produ...

Introduction: ALF is a germ cell-specific counterpart of the large (α/β) subunit of general transcription factor TFIIA and has a vital role in the meiotic and post-meiotic development of male germ cells. We have found in vitro a variety of effects of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on different types of germ cells, including the induction of DNA strand breaks and apoptosis. We therefore examined its effect on the expression of genes such as AL...

Background: The impact of androgens on myometrial contraction has received less scrutiny, compared to progesterone and estrogens. We sought to i) examine the effect of dihydrotestosterone (DHT; a non-aromatizable androgen) on stretch-induced contraction of human myometrium and ii) gain mechanistic insights by studying changes in intracellular calcium [Ca2+] and phosphorylation of myosin light chain (MLC).Methods: Myometrial strips were recover...

Human pregnancy represents a unique immunological environment. However, very little is known about the role of uterine decidual macrophages (dMs) in early human pregnancy. The monocytic cell line (THP1) was activated and polarised to a pro-inflammatory M1 or immunosuppressive M2 M phenotype and the conditioned media was used to treat fetally-derived trophoblast cells. Treatment with M1 conditioned media was found to significantly reduce trophoblast motility in vitro, ...

The past few decades have seen marked improvements in life expectancy following childhood cancer due, in part, to advances in chemotherapy. While these drugs are effective in treating malignant disease, one of the main adverse outcomes can be infertility. This is of particular concern for prepubertal boys, for whom there are not yet any established methods of fertility preservation. The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of the effects of the widely-use...

For developmental competence of oocyte derived from small follicle (~3 mm in diameter SF), pre-IVM system was developed for in vitro culturing SF. The purpose of this study is to establish the optimal phase and concentration for exogenous addition of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP) on pre-IVM. To establish the appropriate phase for pre-IVM, we assessed nuclear status according to culture duration. The result of the nuclear stage assessment of th...

Protein modification with O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAcylation) is essential for eukaryotic cells. There are many reports concerned with O-GlcNAcylateion, but little is known about it in preimplantation development. The objective of this study was to examine the presence of O-GlcNAcylation and the role of O-GlcNAc cycling in pig preimplantation development using parthenogenetic diploids. In-vitro matured ooc...

Introduction: Recent studies have revealed the contribution of steroid hormones to in vitro growth of oocytes in different species. However, exactly how these steroid hormones support oocyte growth is not well understood. This study was conducted to examine the effect of various steroid hormones on in vitro growth of bovine oocytes and to determine the contribution of steroid hormones to oocyte growth by assessing the connections between oocytes and granulosa...