Fi(CBA x C57BL/10) mouse eggs originating from spontaneous or induced ovulation and fertilized by CBA-T6T6 or PO spermatozoa were bisected with a glass needle into halves each containing a pronucleus.This technique offers a unique opportunity of producing both androgenetic and gynogenetic haploid embryos from one egg. Out of 600 operated eggs, in 406 (67-7%) both halves survived. During 96 h of...

OBJECTIVE Melatonin is a scavenger agent that has been used to promote in vitro embryo development. This study was designed to show the effects of melatonin on the quality and quantity rate of preimplantation mouse embryo development and pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this experimental study, super ovulated, mated mice were killed by cervical dislocation to collect two-cell zygotes from ...

OBJECTIVE This study was performed to compare the efficiency of slow freezing and vitrification based on survival, development to blastocysts, and cell numbers of blastocysts. Changes in embryonic gene expression in fresh and frozen-thawed embryos were also examined. METHODS Eight-cell stage embryos were collected from superovulated female BDF1 mice. The collected embryos were randomly divide...

One-cell CF-1 x B6SJLF1/J embryos, which usually exhibit a 2-cell block to development in vitro, have been cultured to the blastocyst stage using CZB medium and a glucose washing procedure. CZB medium is a further modification of modified BMOC-2 containing an increased lactate/pyruvate ratio of 116, 1 mM-glutamine and 0.1 mM-EDTA but lacking glucose. Continuous culture of one-cell embryos in CZ...

STUDY QUESTION Does conventional blastocyst morphological evaluation correlate with euploidy (as assessed by comprehensive chromosome screening (CCS) of trophectoderm (TE) biopsies) and implantation potential? SUMMARY ANSWER A moderate relation between blastocyst morphology and CCS data was observed but the ability to implant seems to be mainly determined by the chromosomal complement of prei...

The aim of this study was to examine the temporal sensitivity of bovine embryos to culture environment after fertilization to determine which period, if any, is most critical in determining blastocyst quality. Bovine zygotes produced in vitro were divided into six groups and cultured either in vitro (in synthetic oviductal fluid, SOF), in vivo (in the ewe oviduct) or in a combination of both sy...

Diploid parthenogenetically activated oocytes were obtained after gonadotropin-induced ovulation of virgin females of the LT/Sv (LT) inbred mouse strain. These oocytes cleave spontaneously and develop into blastocysts which implant in the uterus but die within a few days. We examined the developmental potential of nuclei from parthenogenetic embryos after transplantation into fertilized eggs. T...

BACKGROUND Recent advancement in both human embryology and preimplantation genetic screening has created a completely new situation for human assisted reproduction. Embryos, typically at blastocyst stage, are biopsied and screened by DNA microarray or next-generation sequencing before cryopreservation, and then euploid embryos are warmed for transfer. Increased embryo implantation rates have be...

X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is an epigenetic mechanism that occurs in the eutherian embryo development to equalize the dosage of X-linked genes between males and females. This event is regulated by various factors, and the genes located in the X-chromosome inactivation center (XIC), which is known to be an evolutionary conserved region, are associated with XCI; however, a number of studies ...

Y‑27632 is a specific inhibitor of Rho‑associated protein kinases (ROCKs), which are downstream effectors of Rho GTPase. The present study aimed to determine the effect of the specific ROCK inhibitor, Y‑27632, on fresh human embryos and on single blastomeres obtained from discarded human embryos. A total of 784 poor‑quality embryos were included, of which 526 were allocated to blastocyst cultur...