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Extracellular Vesicles from BOEC in In Vitro Embryo Development and Quality
Ricaurte Lopera-Vásquez1, Meriem Hamdi1, Beatriz Fernandez-Fuertes1
1Departamento de Reproducción Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, INIA, Madrid, Spain.
Plos One
|February 5, 2016
Summary
Bovine oviduct epithelial cell conditioned media and extracellular vesicles improve in vitro embryo quality. Extracellular vesicles in fetal calf serum negatively impact bovine embryo development and quality.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Biology
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- The oviduct microenvironment plays a crucial role in early embryo development.
- Bovine oviduct epithelial cells (BOEC) produce factors that support embryo development.
- Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are key mediators of intercellular communication.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of BOEC-derived conditioned media (CM) and EVs on bovine zygote development and embryo quality.
- To assess the impact of EVs from fetal calf serum (FCS) on bovine embryo development.
Main Methods:
- Bovine zygotes were cultured with BOEC-CM or BOEC-EVs.
- EVs were isolated and characterized using Nanosight and electron microscopy.
- Embryo quality was assessed by cleavage rate, blastocyst yield, cell counts, cryotolerance, and gene expression.
Main Results:
- BOEC-CM and BOEC-EVs increased trophectoderm and total cell numbers in blastocysts.
- Embryos cultured with BOEC-CM and BOEC-EVs showed improved survival after vitrification.
- EVs from FCS negatively affected embryo quality and cryotolerance.
Conclusions:
- BOEC-CM and EVs enhance the quality of in vitro produced bovine embryos.
- EVs facilitate functional communication between the oviduct and the early embryo.
- FCS-derived EVs have a detrimental effect on bovine embryo development.
