Bovine embryos produce a urokinase-type plasminogen activator

The type of plasminogen activator (PA) secreted by bovine embryos was identified. Day 12-14 embryos were collected from estrus-synchronized, superovulated, and naturally mated crossbred beef cows. Embryos were left intact (E) or microdissected into component embryonic discs (ED) and trophoblastic vesicles (TV). Intact embryos, ED, and TV were pre-cultured for 2 days in Minimum Essential Medium Alpha (MEM alpha) with 10% heat-inactivated fetal calf serum, washed in serum-free MEM alpha, and cultured individually for 5 days in 50 microliters microdrops of MEM alpha with 15 mg/ml bovine serum albumin. At 24 hr intervals, E, ED, and TV were observed for tissue morphology and transferred to fresh microdrops, and medium was recovered and frozen at -20 degrees C. At the end of culture, blastocoelic fluid (BF) and embryonic tissues were recovered and frozen at -20 degrees C. Plasminogen activator concentrations in medium, tissues, and BF were determined by using a caseinolytic assay. Antibodies to urokinase-type PA (anti-uPA) and tissue-type PA (anti-tPA), and the urokinase inhibitor, amiloride (AMR), were used to identify the type of PA produced by bovine embryonic tissues. Intact embryos and TV released more PA (P less than 0.05) than ED, and tissues exhibiting expanded blastocoels released less PA (P less than 0.05) than tissues with collapsed blastocoels. Blastocoelic fluid from TV exhibited more PA (P less than 0.05) activity than from ED. Treatment with anti-uPA decreased PA activity (P less than 0.05) in pooled medium and tissues from E compared to treatment with nonspecific immunoglobulins and anti-tPA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)