Improving postcryopreservation survival capacity: an embryo-focused approach.

The major challenge for a greater dissemination of in vitro produced (IVP) bovine embryos is to improve embryonic survival after cryopreservation. The involvement of embryonic lipids on this issue is well documented. However, it has been recognized that not only the amount of lipids that affects embryo cryotolerance, but the embryo survival capacity after cryopreservation is a rather multifactorial event. In this review, some strategies to improve embryonic lipid composition and postcryopreservation survival by modifying the embryos themselves to make them more cryopreservable are overviewed. The use of semi-defined and defined serum-free culture media, the addition of some chemicals in the culture media to modify embryo lipid composition, and the modulation of embryo cell membrane fluidity by cholesterol or unsaturated fatty acids added to the culture media and oocyte/embryo donor nutritional management with a diet enriched in polyunsaturated fatty acids, were described as alternatives for the improvement of IVP embryo survival after cryopreservation

Preservation of wild feline semen by freeze-drying: experimental model

According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, 36 wild feline species are threatened by extinction or severely endangered, and to save them is the target of several conservation programs. This study aimed to assess the viability of the freeze-drying technique for domestic cat sperm cells, with the ultimate goal of transferring this technology to the wild feline species. The domestic cat is an excellent experimental model for wild felids. It is in this scenario that the freeze-drying process (low-temperature vacuum dehydration) of sperm cells shows its value in preserving male cats' germplasm. Results from membrane and DNA integrity analysis are promising and validates the use of frozen-dried sperm samples in intracytoplasmic sperm injections (ICSIs). Further studies are still necessary to evaluate the ICSI embryo production using domestic cat frozen-dried sperm and the possibility of using such technology with wild felines

Effect of oil overlay on inhibition potential of roscovitine in sheep cumulus-oocyte complexes

Contents Inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases, as roscovitine, have been used to prevent the spontaneous resumption of meiosis in vitro and to improve the oocyte developmental competence. In this study, the interference of oil overlay on the reversible arrest capacity of roscovitine in sheep oocytes as well as its effects on cumulus expansion was evaluated. For this, cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were cultured for 20h in TCM 199 with 10% foetal bovine serum (Control) containing 75m roscovitine (Rosco). Subsequently, they were in vitro matured (IVM) for further 18h in inhibitor-free medium with LH and FSH. The culture was performed in Petri dishes under mineral oil (+) or in 96 well plates without oil overlay (-) at 38.5 degrees C and 5% CO2. At 20 and 38h, the cumulus expansion and nuclear maturation were evaluated under stereomicroscope and by Hoechst 33342 staining, respectively. No group presented cumulus expansion at 20h. After additional culture with gonadotrophins, a significant rate of COCs from both Control groups (+/-) exhibited total expansion while in both Rosco groups (+/-) the partial expansion prevailed. Among the oocytes treated with roscovitine, 65.2% were kept at GV in the absence of oil overlay while 40.6% of them reached MII under oil cover (p<0.05). This meiotic arrest was reversible, and proper meiosis progression also occurred in the Control groups (+/-). So, the culture system without oil overlay improved the meiotic inhibition promoted by roscovitine without affecting the cumulus expansion rate or the subsequent meiosis progression.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP