Involvement of E-cadherin in early in vitro development of adult and juvenile sheep embryos

Abstract

The oocyte-to-embryo transition in mammals depends on maternal proteins and transcripts, which accumulate during oocyte differentiation. The aim of the present study was to examine the role of the junctional proteins beta-catenin and E-cadherin during preimplantation in vitro embryo development in sheep, comparing the competence of adult and prepubertal oocytes. We analysed the concentration of beta-catenin and E-cadherin in immature and in vitro-matured oocytes. There was a significant increase in E-cadherin concentration after 24 h of in vitro maturation and this was lower in prepubertal oocytes than in adult ones. We therefore studied the expression and distribution of E-cadherin during the major transition from maternal to embryonic genome. E-cadherin distribution and localisation in sheep was age- and developmental-stage dependent and was related to developmental kinetics. In fact, in adults, the majority of embryos showed the proper distribution of E-cadherin just beneath the membrane surfaces of all blastomeres and the percentage of embryos with this distribution increased with the increase in cell number during development. On the contrary, and regardless of their developmental stage, the majority of prepubertal embryos showed an uneven distribution of the protein, often associated with the occurrence of cellular fragmentation. In conclusion, our results suggest that E-cadherin plays a pivotal role during preimplantation embryo growth in sheep and may be one of the possible cytoplasmic factors involved in the reduced developmental competence of prepubertal female gametes.

Adhesion molecules in gamete transport, fertilization, early embryonic development, and implantation—role in establishing a pregnancy in cattle: A review

“…The expression and distribution of E‐cadherin were studied during the transition from the maternal to the embryonic genome using in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos from adult and juvenile sheep (Modina et al, 2010). Embryos from adult sheep showed the expected expression and cellular distribution of E‐cadherin, while embryos from juvenile sheep showed uneven distribution in disorganized blastomeres.…”

“…Embryos from adult sheep showed the expected expression and cellular distribution of E‐cadherin, while embryos from juvenile sheep showed uneven distribution in disorganized blastomeres. It was suggested that the normal expression of E‐cadherin is required for embryo organization and development in sheep (Modina et al, 2010). Embryos derived from previously vitrified sheep oocytes had altered expression of E‐cadherin and showed poor development (Shirazi, Heidari, Shams‐Esfandabadi, Momeni, & Derafshian, 2015).…”

“…The low embryo survival in cattle provides a compelling reason for more research to better understand the biology of early reproductive events in cattle. Within the context of this review, studies in buffaloes (Moussa et al, 2019), pigs (Bowen et al, 1996), and sheep (Modina et al, 2010;Shirazi et al, 2015) Bovine oviduct epithelial cells in culture secreted the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin (Singh, Carraher, & Schwarzbauer, 2010) which attached to the integrin α 5 β 1 , a fibronectin ligand, present on sperm (Osycka-Salut et al, 2017). It was proposed that fibronectin-sperm α 5 β 1 attachment is involved in sperm interaction with the oviduct which maintains sperm integrity before fertilization (Osycka-Salut et al, 2017).…”

Expression Pattern of Early Transcription Factors in Porcine Oocytes and Embryos

“…During gastrulation, E-CADHERIN is expressed in the ectoderm and endoderm, but not in the mesoderm (Damjanov et al, 1986;Burdsal et al, 1993;Ciruna et al, 2001). In sheep embryos, E-CADHERIN is confined to the cytoplasm in early embryo and appears at the junctions of 8-to 16-cell embryo (Modina et al, 2010).…”

Overexpression of signal transducers and activators of transcription in embryos derived from vitrified oocytes negatively affect E-cadherin expression and embryo development

“…29 Among those evaluated transcripts, no data is available regarding the effect of vitrification on signal 30 transducer and activator of transcription (STAT3) expression in oocytes and the resulting preimplantation 31 embryos. Considering the bidirectional relationship between E-cadherin (CDH1) and STAT3 and the 32 adverse effect of cryopreservation on adherent junctions, we aimed to ascertain to what extent STAT3 33 and CDH1 genes expression is affected by vitrification in oocytes and the resulting embryos. The ovine 34 vitrified-warmed and fresh GV oocytes were separately subjected to in vitro maturation and fertilization 35 and cultured up to the blastocyst stage.…”