Equine non-invasive time-lapse imaging and blastocyst development
S. Meyers
A D , V. Burruel A , M. Kato A , A. de la Fuente A , D. Orellana C , C. Renaudin B and G. Dujovne B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Departments of Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, 1089 Veterinary Medicine Drive, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
B Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, 1089 Veterinary Medicine Drive, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
C William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, 1089 Veterinary Medicine Drive, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
D Corresponding author. Email: smeyers@ucdavis.edu
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 31(12) 1874-1884 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD19260
Submitted: 7 July 2019 Accepted: 4 September 2019 Published: 21 October 2019
Abstract
In this study we examined the timeline of mitotic events of in vitro-produced equine embryos that progressed to blastocyst stage using non-invasive time-lapse microscopy (TLM). Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) embryos were cultured using a self-contained imaging incubator system (Miri®TL; Esco Technologies) that captured brightfield images at 5-min intervals that were then generated into video for retrospective analysis. For all embryos that progressed to the blastocyst stage, the initial event of extrusion of acellular debris preceded all first cleavages and occurred at mean (± s.e.m.) time of 20.0 ± 1.1 h after ICSI, whereas 19 of 24 embryos that did not reach the blastocyst stage demonstrated debris extrusion that occurred at 23.8 ± 1.1 h, on average 4 h longer for this initial premitotic event (P < 0.05). Embryos that failed to reach the blastocyst stage demonstrated a 4-h delay compared with those that reached the blastocyst stage to reach the 2-cell stage (P < 0.05). All embryos that reached the blastocyst stage expressed pulsation of the blastocyst with visible expansion and contraction at approximate 10-min intervals, or five to six times per hour. Using a logit probability method, we determined that 2- and 8-cell stage embryos could reasonably predict which embryos progressed to the blastocyst stage. Together, the results indicate that TLM for equine embryo development is a dynamic tool with promise for predicting successful embryo development.
Additional keywords: embryo, mitosis.
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