Cryopreservation of Rodent Ovarian Tissues and Oocytes

Germplasm cryobanking of rodents is a valuable tool for protecting scientifically important human disease models from genetic drift, genetic contamination, and loss of breeding colonies due to disease or catastrophic disasters to the housing facilities, as well as avoiding stress associated with domestic and international live animal shipment. Furthermore, germplasm cryopreservation enhances management efficiency by saving vivarium space, reducing workload for staff, financial burden of maintaining live animals, reducing the number of animals used to maintain a breeding colony, facilitating transportation of genetics by allowing distribution of frozen germplasm rather than live animals, which also reduces the risk of transfer of pathogens between facilities. In addition to spermatozoa and preimplantation embryos, effective long-term preservation of female germplasm within the ovarian tissues containing primordial follicles and mature oocytes via superovulation is critical for future reconstitution of scientifically important rodent strains for biomedical research. They also serve as a model to investigate and develop optimized oocyte and ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation strategies for human infertility patients and family planning.