Trichostatin A and ascorbic acid assist in the development of porcine handmade cloned embryos via different physiologic pathways.

The objective was to determine the effects of ascorbic acid (AA), trichostatin A (TSA), and their combined treatment (TA) on reprogramming and development of cloned porcine embryos. Embryos treated with AA (50 and 100 µg/mL) had a higher blastocyst rate than controls (49.6% and 44.0% vs 30.7%, P < .05). Blastocyst rates of handmade cloned (HMC) embryos were nearly 60% in both the 30 and 40 nmol/L TSA treatment groups, which were higher (P < .05) than the control (29.4%). The TA treatment groups had a higher blastocyst rate compared with the AA treatment alone (58.9% vs 43.5%, P < .05). Histone acetylation was much higher in the TSA and TA treatments (primarily in 2- and 4-celled embryos) but was not significantly different between AA-treated and untreated embryos. Both AA and TA treatments reduced apoptotic rates of blastocysts. In conclusion, AA supplementation improved blastocyst development in porcine HMC embryos mainly by a traditional antioxidant pathway rather than by cellular reprogramming.