Exposure to colony stimulating factor 2 during preimplantation development increases postnatal growth in cattle

The microenvironment of a preimplantation embryo can influence changes in development that affect postnatal phenotypes. One of the potential mediators of this effect in many species is colony-stimulating factor (CSF2), which can increase an embryo's ability to establish pregnancy after its transfer into recipients. Exposure of embryos to CSF2 during early development can also affect the pattern of development later in pregnancy in a sex-dependent manner. We therefore hypothesized that treatment of in vitro-produced embryos with CSF2 in culture would alter birth weight and postnatal growth of the resultant calf. Body weight and withers height were measured for Holstein heifer calves produced in vitro with or without 10 ng/ml CSF2 and for calves produced by artificial insemination. There were no differences in birth weight between groups; thereafter, however, calves from the CSF2-treated group experienced greater increases in body weight through 13 months of age, with only small differences in withers height. These results support the model that an embryo's postnatal characteristics can be programmed during the preimplantation period, and that CSF2 is one of the embryokines through which programming is directed. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 82: 892-897, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.