W E Roudebush1, N L Often, W J Butler. 1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425-2233.
Abstract
PROBLEM: The development of mouse embryos in vitro is affected primarily by mouse strain-genotype and culture conditions. Embryo culture studies evaluate the effectiveness of culture conditions in supporting one- or two-cell mouse embryo development to the blastocyst stage by reporting the percentage blastocyst formation rate. METHOD: Determining the cell number per cultured blastocyst may also help in determining embryo culture medium quality. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of MEM and Ham's F-10 on overall CFW mouse embryo development and hatched blastocyst cell number in vitro. CFW embryos cultured in MEM had significantly higher (87%; P < 0.001) hatched blastocyst rates than embryos cultured in F-10 (56%). RESULTS: A significant difference in nuclei per hatched blastocyst was found between MEM and F-10 (P < 0.001). The results demonstrate that inbred mouse embryos have significantly higher blastocyst hatching rates and higher cell numbers per blastocyst when cultured in MEM.
PROBLEM: The development of mouse embryos in vitro is affected primarily by mouse strain-genotype and culture conditions. Embryo culture studies evaluate the effectiveness of culture conditions in supporting one- or two-cell mouse embryo development to the blastocyst stage by reporting the percentage blastocyst formation rate. METHOD: Determining the cell number per cultured blastocyst may also help in determining embryo culture medium quality. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of MEM and Ham's F-10 on overall CFW mouse embryo development and hatched blastocyst cell number in vitro. CFW embryos cultured in MEM had significantly higher (87%; P < 0.001) hatched blastocyst rates than embryos cultured in F-10 (56%). RESULTS: A significant difference in nuclei per hatched blastocyst was found between MEM and F-10 (P < 0.001). The results demonstrate that inbred mouse embryos have significantly higher blastocyst hatching rates and higher cell numbers per blastocyst when cultured in MEM.