J Vet Sci. 2007 Mar;8(1):81-87   
 

Modification of maturation condition improves oocyte maturation and in vitro development of somatic cell nuclear transfer pig embryos

Kilyoung Song1, Eunsong Lee2,*

 

1College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
2School of Veterinary Medicine and Institute of Veterinary Science, Kangwon National University, Chunchon 200-701, Korea

* eslee@kangwon.ac.kr

 

This study examined effects on the developmental competence of pig oocytes after somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) or parthenogenetic activation (PA) of : 1) co-culturing of oocytes with follicular shell pieces (FSP) during in vitro maturation (IVM); 2) different durations of maturation; and 3) defined maturation medium supplemented with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA; control), pig follicular fluid (pFF), cysteamine (CYS), or モ-mercaptoethanol (モ-ME). The proportion of metaphase II oocytes was increased (p < 0.05) by co-culturing with FSP compared to control oocytes (98% vs. 94%). However, blastocyst formation after SCNT was not improved by FSP coculture (9% vs. 12%). Nuclear maturation of oocytes matured for 39 or 42 h was higher (p < 0.05) than that of oocytes matured for 36 h (95-96% vs. 79%). Cleavage (83%) and blastocyst formation (26%) were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in oocytes matured for 42 h than in other groups. Supplementation of a defined maturation medium with 100 レM CYS or 100 レM モ-ME showed no stimulatory effect on oocyte maturation, embryo cleavage, or blastocyst formation after PA. モ-ME treatment during IVM decreased embryo cleavage after SCNT compared to pFF or PVA treatments, but no significant difference was found in blastocyst formation (7-16%) among the four treatment groups. The results indicated that maturation of oocytes for 42 h was beneficial for the development of SCNT embryos. Furthermore, the defined maturation system used in this study could support in vitro development of PA or SCNT embryos.