Cultivation of mouse embryos explanted at 11 days

A method for cultivation of 11-day mouse embryos (plug day = day 0) is presented. Competence of the visceral yolk sac and serum dilutions were tested. Eleven day mouse embryos were cultivated for 24 hours with the visceral yolk sac either opened or left intact. Fetal calf serum (FCS) at 0%, 25%, and 50% dilutions balanced with Waymouth's medium was used as cultivation medium. Viability and growth of the embryos were evaluated by heart rate at 6 hours, and protein accumulation and differentiation at 24 hours. At 6 hours, best results were found in those embryos with the visceral yolk sac intact. Serum dilutions at this time were not important for viability. At 24 hours, only those embryos cultivated with the visceral yolk sac opened were alive. Significant increase in viability was obtained when a 50% dilution of FCS was used. There was a significant increase in protein accumulation for viable embryos at 24 hours.