243 TEMPORAL DIVERGENCE IN THE PATTERN OF MRNA EXPRESSION IN BOVINE EMBRYOS CULTURED FROM THE ZYGOTE TO BLASTOCYST STAGE IN VITRO OR IN VIVO

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the time during the post-fertilization culture period that gene expression patterns of in vitro cultured bovine embryos diverge from those of their in vivo cultured counterparts. Presumptive bovine zygotes were produced by IVM/IVF of immature oocytes collected from the ovaries of slaughtered animals. At approximately 20 h post-insemination (hpi), presumptive zygotes were randomly divided into two culture groups, either in vitro in synthetic oviduct fluid or in vivo, and transferred into the ewe oviduct. Embryos were recovered from both systems at approximately 30 hpi (2-cell), two (4-cell), three (8-cell), four (16-cell), five (early morula), six (compact morula) or seven (blastocyst) days pi and snap-frozen for the analysis of transcript abundance using real-time PCR. The transcripts studied were interferon-tau, apoptosis regulator box-a (Bax), connexin 43, sarcosine oxidase, glucose transporter 5, mitochondrial Mn-superoxide dismutase, insulin-like growth factor II, and insulin-like growth factor-I receptor, most of which are known from our previous work to be differentially transcribed in blastocysts derived from culture in vitro or in vivo. Analysis was done on pools of 10 embryos. Data were analyzed using one-way repeated measures ANOVA. The relative abundance of the transcripts studied varied throughout the preimplantation period and was strongly influenced by the culture environment. For example, transcripts for interferon-tau were detected from the 8-cell stage onwards in in vitro-cultured embryos but not until the early morula stage in those cultured in vivo. Levels of this transcript increased significantly at the compact morula and blastocyst stages in both groups but were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in in vitro-cultured embryos at both stages. mRNA for Bax was not detected before the 8-cell stage in in vitro cultured embryos and not until the 16-cell stage in in vivo cultured embryos. The abundance of this transcript increased significantly thereafter up to the blastocyst stage in both groups. The level of expression was significantly higher (P < 0.05) at all stages of development in in vitro-cultured embryos than those cultured in vivo. The relative abundance of Cx43 transcripts decreased in both in vitro- and in vivo-cultured embryos at the 8- to 16-cell stage. Levels remained low thereafter in the in vitro-cultured embryos but significantly increased in those cultured in vivo. Transcript abundance was significantly higher in in vivo cultured embryos from Day 4 onwards with a ten-fold difference presence at the blastocyst stage. Differences also existed for the other transcripts studied. These data demonstrate that changes in transcript abundance in blastocyst stage embryos are in many cases a consequence of perturbed transcription earlier in development. Depending on the transcript, these differences may be evident in as short as 10 h of culture.