Fertilization and development of bovine oocytes grown in female SCID mice

We previously reported that xenografted bovine secondary follicles developed to the antral stage in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. In the present study, bovine secondary follicles 100-240 microm in diameter were xenografted under the kidney capsules of female SCID mice for 6 and 8 weeks, and we examined the oocytes' fertilization and developmental abilities. Bovine follicles developed with prolongation of grafting and became significantly larger than those before grafting. Injection of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) into host mice made some surviving follicles develop larger than the other follicles. Furthermore, bovine oocytes grew in the follicles, and the mean diameter of the oocytes was 100 microm or more at 6 and 8 weeks of transplantation. Bovine oocytes that had grown in eCG-stimulated SCID mice 8 weeks after grafting were subjected to maturation culture. Some of the oocytes that had grown to 110 microm or more matured to the second metaphase (7% of oocytes 110-119 microm and 44% of those >120 microm). When the oocytes were inseminated with bovine spermatozoa, 15% (6/39) formed a female and a male pronucleus, and 2 days after insemination 24% (18/75) of oocytes cleaved and 2% (2/75) developed to the 5- to 8-cell stage. However, no embryo reached the blastocyst stage. These results indicate that bovine oocytes grown in SCID mice could be fertilized but acquired insufficient competence for embryonic development in the present conditions.