Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015;16(3):373-80.
doi: 10.4142/jvs.2015.16.3.373. Epub 2015 Mar 20.

Rapamycin treatment during in vitro maturation of oocytes improves embryonic development after parthenogenesis and somatic cell nuclear transfer in pigs

Joohyeong Lee  1 , Jong-Im Park, Jung Im Yun, Yongjin Lee, Hwanyul Yong, Seung Tae Lee, Choon-Keun Park, Sang-Hwan Hyun, Geun-Shik Lee, Eunsong Lee
Affiliations

Rapamycin treatment during in vitro maturation of oocytes improves embryonic development after parthenogenesis and somatic cell nuclear transfer in pigs

Joohyeong Lee et al. J Vet Sci. 2015.

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of rapamycin treatment during in vitro maturation (IVM) on oocyte maturation and embryonic development after parthenogenetic activation (PA) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) in pigs. Morphologically good (MGCOCs) and poor oocytes (MPCOCs) were untreated or treated with 1 nM rapamycin during 0-22 h, 22-42 h, or 0-42 h of IVM. Rapamycin had no significant effects on nuclear maturation and blastocyst formation after PA of MGCOCs. Blastocyst formation after PA was significantly increased by rapamycin treatment during 22-42 h and 0-42 h (46.6% and 46.5%, respectively) relative to the control (33.3%) and 0-22 h groups (38.6%) in MPCOCs. In SCNT, blastocyst formation tended to increase in MPCOCs treated with rapamycin during 0-42 h of IVM relative to untreated oocytes (20.3% vs. 14.3%, 0.05 < p < 0.1), while no improvement was observed in MGCOCs. Gene expression analysis revealed that transcript abundance of Beclin 1 and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 mRNAs was significantly increased in MPCOCs by rapamycin relative to the control. Our results demonstrated that autophagy induction by rapamycin during IVM improved developmental competence of oocytes derived from MPCOCs.

Keywords: autophagy; oocyte maturation; pig; rapamycin; somatic cell nuclear transfer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: There is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. (A) Morphologically good (MGCOCs) and (B) poor pig oocytes (MPCOCs) used in this study. MGCOCs were surrounded by a thick cumulus cell layer, whereas MPCOCs were partially denuded or had a thin cumulus cell layer compared to MGCOCs. Scale bars = 100 µm.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Relative transcript abundance (mean ± SEM) of Beclin 1 and LC3 mRNAs in metaphase II oocytes derived from morphologically good oocytes (MGCOCs) and morphologically poor oocytes (MPCOCs) treated with 1 nM rapamycin during in vitro maturation. Bars with different letters (a, b) in the same mRNA are significantly different (p < 0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bavister BD, Leibfried ML, Lieberman G. Development of preimplantation embryos of the golden hamster in a defined culture medium. Biol Reprod. 1983;28:235–247. - PubMed
    1. Bing YZ, Hirao Y, Iga K, Che LM, Takenouchi N, Kuwayama M, Fuchimoto D, Rodriguez-Martinez H, Nagai T. In vitro maturation and glutathione synthesis of porcine oocytes in the presence or absence of cysteamine under different oxygen tensions: role of cumulus cells. Reprod Fertil Dev. 2002;14:125–131. - PubMed
    1. de Matos DG, Furnus CC, Moses DF. Glutathione synthesis during in vitro maturation of bovine oocytes: role of cumulus cells. Biol Reprod. 1997;57:1420–1425. - PubMed
    1. Eppig JJ, Pendola FL, Wigglesworth K, Pendola JK. Mouse oocytes regulate metabolic cooperativity between granulosa cells and oocytes: amino acid transport. Biol Reprod. 2005;73:351–357. - PubMed
    1. Fatehi AN, Roelen BA, Colenbrander B, Schoevers EJ, Gadella BM, Beverst MM, van den Hurk R. Presence of cumulus cells during in vitro fertilization protects the bovine oocyte against oxidative stress and improves first cleavage but does not affect further development. Zygote. 2005;13:177–185. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms