Effect of potassium concentration, type of protein supplement, and embryo density on mouse preimplantation...

Mouse preimplantation embryos were used to test the effects of three culture parameters on development of 2-cell stage embryos to the late morula stage (40 to 43 hours of culture, 65 to 80 hours after fertilization): concentration of potassium (K)--0.6 mM, 1.4 mM, and 6.0 mM; type of protein supplement, bovine serum albumin (BSA), and bovine serum immunoglobulins (BSIG); and number of embryos (2 or 20) cultured per 10- to 12-microliter drop of T6 culture medium under paraffin oil. Cell number per embryo of cultured late morulae was compared with that of same-age embryos developing in vivo. The developmental rate to late morula stage with 20 embryos per drop of medium was media containing 0.6- and 1.4-mM K, 0.15% BSA, 0.15% BSIG greater than medium containing 1.4-mM K, 0.3% BSA greater than all media containing 6.0-mM K (P less than 0.01 comparing media containing 0.6- or 1.4-mM K with media containing 6.0-mM K). For a given medium, developmental rate was significantly slower for 2 embryos per drop than for 20 embryos per drop of medium with those media containing either 0.3% BSA (for all concentrations of K tested) or 6.0-mM K (for 0.3% BSA and for 0.15% BSA + 0.15% BSIG). Finally, cell number per embryo was: in vivo-developed embryos greater than medium containing 1.4-mM K, 0.15% BSA, 0.15% BSIG much greater than 6.0- or 1.4-mM K, 0.3% BSA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)