Impact of Ionomycin on the Gene Expression of In vitro Fertilized Bovine Embryos

Abstract

Background: The embryo genomic material used in this study came from an equal contribution of maternal and paternal genes. Gene expression during IVEP embryo development was controlled by several factors: the genetic makeup of the embryo, the epigenetic contributions and the culture materials. The aims of this research were to study the impact of ionomycin treatment on the sperm capacitation time and its impacts on the gene expression of some sensitive genes (Bcl-2, Bax, HSPB1, IGF1 and GDF9) during IVEP. Methods: The semen was placed in a sterile 15ml tube containing 5ml of capacitation medium and then split into three different experimental groups: the first group was the control; the second was the low-treated group, which contained sperm in a capacitation medium with 25 nM of ionomycin; the third group included 50 nM ionomycin. Result: The gene expression of BAX during early cleavage did not show any differences. However, in the late cleavage stage, the control group presented higher gene expression (P less than 0.05) than that in the two treated groups. The Bcl-2 genes of the control group showed higher gene expression (P less than 0.05) in both the early and late cleavage stages compared to the low-treated group. Gene expression of the HSP-1 gene was observed during early embryo development in the treated group (25 nM ionomycin). In conclusion, concentration 25 nM ionomycin showed higher gene expression in the early stages of embryo development also the best-quality embryos and gene expression results were found by studying gene expression. The transition from the maternal and paternal genome to the embryonic genome and gene expression during embryo development is controlled by several factors.