ABSTRACT: Differences prevailing in bovine in vitro produced blastocysts in the view of their post-transfer phenotypes three days ahead of implantation
Project description:Individual zona free in vitro grown bovine day 7 blastocysts were compared to stage and quality matched nuclear transfer derived blastocysts (fibroblast donor cells).
Project description:A high incidence of pregnancy failures occurs in cattle during the second week of pregnancy as blastocysts transition into an elongated conceptus. This work explored whether interleukin-6 (IL6) supplementation during in vitro embryo production would improve subsequent conceptus development. Bovine embryos were treated with 0 or 100 ng/mL recombinant bovine IL6 beginning on day 5 post-fertilization. At day 7.5 post-fertilization, blastocysts were transferred into estrus synchronized beef cows (n=5 recipients/treatment, 10 embryos/recipient). Seven days after transfer (day 14.5), cows were euthanized to harvest reproductive tracts and collect conceptuses. Individual conceptus lengths and stages were recorded before processing for RNA-sequencing. Increases in conceptus recovery, length, and the proportion of tubular and filamentous conceptuses were detected in conceptuses derived from IL6-treated embryos. The IL6 treatment generated 591 differentially expressed genes (DEG) in conceptuses (n=9-10/treatment). Gene ontology enrichment analyses revealed changes in transcriptional regulation, DNA-binding, and antiviral actions. Only a few DEG were associated with extraembryonic development, but several DEG were associated with embryonic regulation of transcription, mesoderm and ectoderm development, organogenesis, limb formation, and somatogenesis. To conclude, this work provides evidence that IL6 treatment before embryo transfer promotes pre-implantation conceptus development and gene expression in ways that resemble the generation of a robust conceptus containing favorable abilities to survive this critical period of pregnancy.
Project description:Embryo transfer is largely used in cattle and classically performed at D7 (or D8) using unsorted D7 (or D8) blastocysts produced in vivo, or in vitro in defined media without serum or feeders. Outdated systems including serum and co-culture were however of interest for research purposes. We thus wondered whether embryos that would form a blastocoel at different times after fertilisation (D6 to D8) and stay in culture for up to 2 additional days (D6+1, D6+2, D7+1) would equally develop in vivo after temporary transfer to oestrus-synchronised recipients. Globally alike, those that survived up to D18 reached primitive streak stages and elongated to filamentous sizes similarly to in vivo (D18) or in vitro controls (classical D7-T7). Recovery rate differed between D6 and D8 embryos that were immediately transferred (58 vs 25% in D6-T6 vs D8-T8). With a reduced but intermediate survival (33%), the D6 embryos that stayed 2 more days in culture produced 7 times more IFN-tau at D18 than the immediately transferred D6 embryos. At the end of the culture, D6+2 embryos also displayed the higher number of differences with the D6 blastocysts. A “+1” phenotype emerged from the D6+1 and D7+1 embryos, that shared a larger gene set enrichment than the blastocysts they derived from, possible sign of a similar adaption to the in vitro environment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that this culture system (B2, serum, co-culture) is used to study its impacts on the embryonic transcriptome prior to transfer. Initially reputed as beneficial to produce more expanding and hatching blastocysts, this culture system generated blastocysts that all dissembled in vivo developed ones (D7). Despite a loss of 40 to 60% in the two weeks after ET, no dying (vs surviving) signature was detectable in any of the transferred groups (D6, D6+2, D7+1, D8); was it rather a matter of developmental “pause”? Whether molecular differences prevailing to transfer partly reflected those induced by unfavourable conditions (or diapause) was therefore assessed.