玻璃化冷冻对猪体外成熟卵母细胞染色体与纺锤体的影响

以冷冻环为载体,探讨玻璃化冷冻对猪体外成熟卵母细胞染色体与纺锤体影响。单用40%乙二醇(ethyleneglycol,EG)或20%EG与20%二甲基亚砜(dimethylsulphoxide,DMSO)联合作冷冻保护剂,用直投液氮或使用玻璃化冷冻仪法制冷冷冻猪体外成熟卵母细胞;解冻2h后固定并免疫荧光法染色纺锤体及染色体;挑选各试验组形态正常卵母细胞进行体外受精实验。结果表明,与单用EG以及EG和DMSO联合直投液氮方案比较,EG和DMSO联合应用并采用玻璃化冷冻仪制冷方案卵母细胞染色体正常率为30.1%,纺锤体正常率为37.2%,可明显降低卵母细胞染色体及纺锤体结构损伤(P<0.05),并明显提高卵母细胞的激活效果(P<0.05)。采用联合冷冻保护剂及玻璃化冷冻仪高速冷冻可较好维持猪卵母细胞染色体与纺锤体形态,但玻璃化冷冻明显影响猪卵母细胞体外受精后的发育能力。     

猪精液冷冻影响因素的研究进展

由于在经济生产中的重要意义,猪精液冷冻保存技术已成为研究的焦点。文章综述了国内外猪精液冷冻技术的研究成果,主要阐述精液的冷冻保存原理,并从冷冻稀释液和冷冻保护剂、冷冻方法和解冻方法等方面阐述了猪精液冷冻的影响因素。     

牛卵母细胞玻璃化冷冻保存影响因素的研究

采用毛细玻璃管法对牛卵母细胞进行玻璃化冷冻保存,解冻后再进行体外受精（IVF）和早期胚胎的体外培养（IVC）。在此技术的基础上,分别对冷冻前平衡时间、解冻处理、卵丘细胞层数以及卵母细胞所处的减数分裂阶段等影响卵母细胞冷冻保存的因素进行研究,以期筛选出适合牛卵母细胞冷冻保存的方法。结果发现,处于MⅡ期卵母细胞在10％二甲基亚砜（DMSO）＋10％乙二醇（EG）液（VSl）中平衡1～3min,然后进行玻璃化冷冻保存。解冻时将卵母细胞先移入VS1液中处理15s,然后移入蔗糖稀释液中。另外发现,冷冻保存时部分卵丘细胞对卵母细胞有保护作用。而减数分裂阶段不影响解冻后卵母细胞形态正常率,但对胚胎发育率有严重影响。     

微流控芯片用于卵母细胞冷冻保存的实验研究

低温保存对卵母细胞造成渗透损伤、毒性损伤和冰晶损伤,使得细胞冻后质量难以提高.本文首次提出将微流控法添加-去除保护剂分别与三种冷冻载体(OPS、QC及Cryotop)搭配使用,对猪卵母细胞进行冷冻保存,并与传统冷冻法进行比较;然后,首次选用透明陶瓷和玻璃制作集成一体化芯片,对猪卵母细胞进行冷冻保存,以冷冻保存后的细胞存活率和发育率为判断依据,筛选出较好的方案;最后,对冻后卵母细胞的早期凋亡情况、胞内活性氧水平和线粒体膜电位水平进行分析.结果表明,微流控添加-去除保护剂组卵母细胞冻后存活率以及卵裂率都显著高于传统冷冻组,可以有效降低卵母细胞的早期凋亡率和胞内活性氧水平,减小线粒体损伤,提高细胞的冻后质量.透明陶瓷一体化芯片保存卵母细胞得到的存活率和卵裂率与传统OPS冷冻的保存结果无显著差异.微流控芯片技术为卵母细胞的低温保存提供新的思路,有较好的应用前景.     

卵母细胞冷冻保存损伤机制的研究进展

卵母细胞冷冻保存后不易成活的主要由于冷冻对细胞造成损伤所致.冷冻对卵母细胞造成的损伤主要表现在微管微丝透明带变化和皮质颗粒外排超微结构变化及染色体畸变.     

一种安全有效的卵母细胞封闭式玻璃化冷冻载体

目的探讨封闭式玻璃化冷冻载体冻存小鼠卵母细胞的可行性。方法以小鼠MII期卵母细胞为模型,以开放式玻璃微细管法（GMP）为对照组,比较两种玻璃化冷冻载体对小鼠卵母细胞冷冻后的存活率、受精率、卵裂率及囊胚率的影响。结果卵母细胞经冻融后,封闭式冷冻载体组和GMP组的存活率、受精率、卵裂率和囊胚率均没有明显差异（92.80%vs93.11%,49.80%vs51.67%,36.73%vs35.83%,12.65%vs14.17%%;P〉0.05）。结论封闭式冷冻载体能安全、有效的冷冻保存小鼠卵母细胞。     

影响哺乳动物卵母细胞玻璃化冷冻保存效果的因素

从屠宰场收集具有高遗传价值的卵母细胞进行冷冻保存,生产可移植胚胎,这为补充宝贵的种质资源以及物种遗传改良提供机会。虽然玻璃化冷冻技术已经成功保存了几种动物的卵母细胞,但由于卵母细胞对低温极其敏感,导致其进展十分缓慢。本文主要综述了卵母细胞脂质含量、卵丘细胞层、冷冻卵母细胞阶段、冷冻保护剂等因素对哺乳动物卵母细胞玻璃化冷冻保存效果的影响,为改善卵母细胞冷冻效果指引方向。     

两种冷冻保护剂和冷冻程序对兔精子冷冻效果的比较

目的比较不同冷冻保护剂和冷冻程序对兔精子冷冻保护的影响,以期提高兔精子冷冻保存的效果和效率。方法用三步降温法（程序Ⅰ）和两步降温法（程序Ⅱ）两种冷冻程序与终浓度分别为2%,3%,4%,5%的甘油和乙酰胺两种冷冻保护剂配合进行精液冷冻保存,统计精子复苏率。结果使用程序Ⅱ添加3%乙酰胺的冷冻保护剂实验组的精子复苏率较高,同其它组比较差异有显著性意义（P〈0.05）;程序Ⅱ比程序Ⅰ节省约70%的时间,同种浓度冷冻保护剂的不同冷冻程序组之间精子复苏率差异无显著性意义（P〉0.05）。结论程序Ⅱ与3%乙酰胺配合可以取得良好的冷冻保存效果;用程序Ⅱ进行兔精液冷冻保存可以大幅缩短操作时间。     

猪精子冷冻损伤研究进展

综述了猪冻存精子顶体、质膜和线粒体的形态学变化及其对精子受精能力的影响,同时分析了冻融精子中所发生的蛋白质、DNA等生物大分子的变化及其可能对冻存精子质量及受精能力的影响,指出冷冻保存过程对精子蛋白质、DNA等生物大分子质和量的影响是精子冷冻损伤的实质,应用先进的蛋白组学进行猪精子冷冻损伤机理研究,有助于深刻揭示冷冻损伤的分子机理,为推动猪精液冷冻保存技术研究取得突破性进展提供理论依据。     

猪卵母细胞玻璃化冷冻后细胞骨架的变化

为研究玻璃化冷冻后猪卵母细胞纺锤体、染色体和微丝的变化,从屠宰猪卵巢表面直径2—5mm卵泡中采集未成熟(GV)期卵母细胞,由GV期卵母细胞经成熟培养获得体外成熟(MⅡ)期卵母细胞。GV期和MⅡ期卵母细胞各分为3组对照组、冷冻保护剂处理组和玻璃化冷冻组。MⅡ期卵母细胞经分组处理后直接用于激光扫描共聚焦显微镜(LSCM)观察样本;而GV期卵母细胞处理后先经44h成熟培养,再用作LSCM观察样本。供试卵母细胞经固定、免疫荧光染色后,于LSCM下观察。结果表明,冷冻保护剂处理组GV期卵母细胞经成熟培养后,其纺锤体结构、染色体排列与微丝分布正常率分别为42.9%、89.6%和28.6%;玻璃化冷冻组此3项指标的正常率分别为10.1%、36.4%和16.9%,两组间差异显著(P<0.05);除冷冻保护剂处理组染色体正常率与对照组无较大差异外,两试验组的其他指标均明显低于对照组(分别为79.5%、93.1%和72.3%,P<0.05)。MⅡ期卵母细胞冷冻保护剂处理组的纺锤体结构、染色体排列与微丝分布正常率分别为34.4%、61.3%和47.9%,而冷冻组分别为12.9%、56.7%和37.2%,两组均显著低于对照组(分别为78.3%、90.1%和72.8%,P<0.05)。结果表明,猪GV期和MⅡ期卵母细胞经冷冻保护剂处理或玻璃化冷冻保存后,均造成了纺锤体、染色体和微丝不可逆的损伤,这可能是影响卵母细胞成熟、受精与发育的重要原因。     

The effect of osmotic stress on the cell volume, metaphase II spindle and developmental potential of in vitro matured porcine oocytes

Porcine animal models are used to advance our understanding of human physiology. Current research is also directed at methods to produce transgenic pigs. Cryobanking gametes and embryos can facilitate the preservation of valuable genotypes, yet cryopreserving oocytes from pigs has proven very challenging. The current study was designed to understand the effects of anisotonic solutions on in vitro matured porcine oocytes as a first step toward designing improved cryopreservation procedures. We hypothesized that the proportion of oocytes demonstrating a normal spindle apparatus and in vitro developmental potential would be proportional to the solution osmolality. Oocytes were incubated for 10 min at 38 degrees C in various hypo- or hypertonic solutions, and an isotonic control solution and then assessed for these two parameters. Our results support the hypothesis, with an increasing proportion of spindles showing a disrupted structure as the levels of anisotonic exposure diverge from isotonic. Only about half of the oocytes maintained developmental potential after exposure to anisotonic solutions compared to untreated controls. Oocyte volume displayed a linear response to anisotonic solutions as expected, with an estimated relative osmotically inactive cell volume of 0.178. The results from this study provide initial biophysical data to characterize porcine oocytes. The results from future experiments designed to determine the membrane permeability to various cryoprotectants will allow predictive modeling of optimal cryopreservation parameters and provide a basis for designing improved cryopreservation procedures.     

Production of live piglets following cryopreservation of embryos derived from in vitro-matured oocytes

We have successfully produced healthy piglets following cryopreservation of embryos derived from oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro. The appropriate timing of cryopreservation pretreatment (removal of cytoplasmic lipid droplets [delipation] and vitrification) was initially determined using parthenogenetic embryos derived from in vitro-matured (IVM) oocytes. Viable embryos were obtained at the highest rate when embryos were delipated at the four- to eight-cell stages (Day 2 of embryo culture) and were vitrified approximately 15 h later (Day 3) by means of the minimum volume cooling method. After cryopreservation of embryos derived from oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro under the most appropriate conditions, 401 embryos were transferred to five recipient gilts, and the recipients all became pregnant. At autopsy of one of the recipients, which had received 47 embryos, eight fetuses (17.0%) were found. Three recipients each gave birth to two to four piglets (1.4%-6.0%). These results demonstrate that normal offspring can be produced from vitrified porcine embryos derived from IVM oocytes by a strategic combination of delipation and vitrification at the early cleavage stages. This approach has great potential in the reproduction of micromanipulated porcine embryos, such as cloned and sperm-injected embryos, produced from IVM oocytes.     

Advances on in vitro production and cryopreservation of porcine embryos

There have been intensive attempts to establish reliable in vitro production (IVP) and cryopreservation methods of embryos in pigs. Although a great deal of progress has been made, current IVP systems and cryopreservation still suffer from insufficient cytoplasmic abilities of in vitro matured oocytes, polyspermic fertilization, poor quality of in vitro produced embryos and low efficiency of embryo cryopreservation. Compared to other mammalian species, pig oocytes and embryos are characterized by large amounts of lipid content stored mainly in the form of lipid droplets in the cytoplasm. This fact has a negative influence on biotechnological applications on porcine oocytes and embryos. In this review, we will discuss recent studies about methods and techniques for modifying porcine embryo IVP system and embryo cryopreservation that produces high quality of pig blastocysts using in vitro maturation, in vitro fertilization, in vitro culture, microsurgical manipulation, addition of protein, the use of cytoskeleton stabilizing agents and various physical methods. The presented methods and techniques make it possible to modify the characteristics of oocytes and embryos and thus may become major tools in mammalian gamete and embryo agricultural or biotechnological applications in the future.     

Cryopreservation of porcine embryos derived from in vitro-matured oocytes

This study describes a cryopreservation method for porcine in vitro-produced (IVP) embryos using as a model parthenogenetic embryos derived from in vitro-matured (IVM) oocytes. IVP embryos at the expanded blastocyst stage were cryopreserved by vitrification using the minimum volume cooling (MVC) method and exhibited an embryo survival rate of 41.2%. Survival was then significantly improved (83.3%, P < 0.05) by decreasing the amount of cytoplasmic lipid droplets (delipation) prior to vitrification. IVP embryos at the 4-cell stage also survived cryopreservation when vitrified after delipation (survival rate, 36.0%), whereas post-thaw survival of nondelipated embryos was quite low (9.7%). Furthermore, it was demonstrated that porcine IVP morulae can be cryopreserved by vitrification following delipation by a noninvasive method (survival rate, 82.5%). These results clearly confirm that porcine embryos derived from IVM oocytes can be effectively cryopreserved with high embryo survival using the MVC method in conjunction with delipation.     

Microfluidic method reduces osmotic stress injury to oocytes during cryoprotectant addition and removal processes in porcine oocytes

Oocyte cryopreservation is an important technology in assisted reproduction and fertility preservation. However, the developmental potential of cryopreserved oocyte remains poor. Osmotic stress injury (OSI) during cryoprotectants (CPAs) loading and unloading steps has critical impact on successful cryopreservation. In order to minimize OSI to oocytes, a microfluidic device was designed and fabricated to achieve continuous CPA concentration change. MII porcine oocytes were loaded and unloaded CPAs with step-wise and microfluidic methods, oocyte volume changes were recorded and compared, loading and unloading duration of microfluidic methods were optimized. The survival and developmental rate of treated oocytes in step-wise and microfluidic linear methods were also evaluated. The results showed that oocyte volume changes with microfluidic method were obviously less than step-wise method, and the survival, cleavage and blastocyst rate of oocytes were 95.3%, 64.4%, and 19.4%, respectively, which were significantly higher than the traditional step-wise method (79.4%, 43.6%, and 9.7%) (p < 0.05). In conclusion, microfluidic device can effectively reduce the osmotic damage to oocytes and improve the survival rate and developmental rate of oocytes, which may provide a new path for oocyte cryopreservation.     

Vitrification of immature and in vitro matured pig oocytes: study of distribution of chromosomes, microtubules, and actin microfilaments

Studies were conducted to compare viability of immature and mature porcine oocytes vitrified in ethylene glycol (EG) using open-pulled straws (OPS). Oocytes that had been allowed to mature for 12 h (germinal vesicle group; GV) and 40 h (metaphase II group; MII) were divided into three treatments: (1) control; (2) treated with cytochalasin B and exposed to EG; and (3) treated with cytochalasin B and vitrified by stepwise exposure to EG in OPS. After warming, a sample of oocytes was fixed and evaluated by specific fluorescent probes before visualization using confocal microscopy. The remaining oocytes were fertilized and cleavage rate was recorded. Exposure of GV oocytes to EG or vitrification had a dramatic effect on spindle and chromosome configurations and no cleavage was obtained after in vitro fertilization. When MII oocytes were exposed to EG or were vitrified, 18 and 11% of oocytes, respectively, maintained the spindle structure and either EG exposure or vitrification resulted in substantial disruption in microfilament organization. The cleavage rates of mature oocytes after being exposed to EG or after vitrification were similar (14 and 13%, respectively) but were significantly less than that of control oocytes (69%). These results indicate that porcine oocytes at different meiotic stages respond differently to cryopreservation and MII porcine oocytes had better resistance to cryopreservation than GV stage oocytes.     

A chronologic review of mature oocyte vitrification research in cattle, pigs, and sheep

Vitrification as a means of cryopreservation has become a standard approach for oocytes from livestock. This paradigm shift occurred primarily as a result of the demonstration in 1996 that bovine oocytes are extremely susceptible to chilling injury. Since that early work, numerous devices have been used as supports for oocytes during so-called “ultra-rapid cooling”, and occasionally, trials involving the deposition of small volumes of media containing oocytes directly into liquid nitrogen to facilitate cooling have been reported. Results reporting blastocyst development exceeding 10% are common, but variability remains high, and a standard method for bovine oocytes remains to be established. Oocytes from pigs are particularly difficult to cryopreserve, even with the use of ultrarapid cooling approaches. Few reports have demonstrated blastocyst development exceeding 5%. The application of hydrostatic pressure before vitrification appears to impart stress tolerance to porcine oocytes, as the results of some treatments have shown development to blastocysts at proportions >10%. Work on sheep oocyte vitrification is relatively new, and a few articles have reported blastocyst development at 10% or more. Messenger RNA levels are reportedly altered in sheep oocytes as a result of vitrification, and damage to the cytoskeleton is common across species.     

Cryopreservation of immature and in vitro matured porcine oocytes by solid surface vitrification

Cryopreservation of normal, lipid-containing porcine oocytes has had limited practical success. This study used solid surface vitrification (SSV) of immature germinal vesicle (GV) and mature meiosis II (MII) porcine oocytes and evaluated the effects of pretreatment with cytochalasin B, cryoprotectant type (dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), ethylene glycol (EG), or both), and warming method (two-step versus single-step). Oocyte survival (post-thaw) was assessed by morphological appearance, staining (3',6'-diacetyl fluorescein), nuclear maturation, and developmental capacity (after in vitro fertilization). Both GV and MII oocytes were successfully vitrified; following cryopreservation in EG, more than 60% of GV and MII stage porcine oocytes remained intact (no significant improvement with cytochalasin B pretreatment). Oocytes (GV stage) vitrified in DMSO had lower (P<0.05) nuclear maturation rates (31%) than those vitrified in EG (51%) or EG+DMSO (53%). Survival was better with two-step versus single-step dilution. Despite high survival rates, rates of cleavage (20-26%) and blastocyst formation (3-9%) were significantly lower than for non-vitrified controls (60 and 20%). In conclusion, SSV was a very simple, rapid, procedure that allowed normal, lipid-containing, GV or MII porcine oocytes to be fertilized and develop to the blastocyst stage in vitro.     

The evolution of porcine embryo in vitro production

The in vitro production of porcine embryos has presented numerous challenges to researchers over the past four decades. Some of the problems encountered were specific to porcine gametes and embryos and needed the concerted efforts of many to overcome. Gradually, porcine embryo in vitro production systems became more reliable and acceptable rates of blastocyst formation were achieved. Despite the significant improvements, the problem of polyspermic fertilization has still not been adequately resolved and the embryo in vitro culture conditions are still considered to be suboptimal. Whereas early studies focused on increasing our understanding of the reproductive processes involved, the technology evolved to the point where in vitro-matured oocytes and in vitro-produced embryos could be used as research material for developing associated reproductive technologies, such as SCNT and embryo cryopreservation. Today, the in vitro procedures used to mature oocytes and culture embryos are integral to the production of transgenic pigs by SCNT. This review discusses the major achievements, advances, and knowledge gained from porcine embryo in vitro production studies and highlights the future research perspectives of this important technology.