Protective potential of SCF for mice preimplantation embryos cultured in vitro in suboptimal conditions

Abstract

Purpose To examine the effect of stem cell factor (SCF) to embryos exposed to detrimental factors. Methods Mice embryos cultured in control medium or Exp.1. with FasL or FasL+SCF Exp.2. with hydrogen peroxide (HP) or HP+SCF; Exp.3. frozen-thawed and cultured with or without SCF. Immunohistochemistry for Fas and c-kit receptors was performed in blastocysts. Blastocyst rates, total numbers of blastocyst cells (TB) and inner cell mass cell counts (ICM) were determined. Results Immunohistochemical studies revealed expression of both Fas and c-kit in blastocyst cells. Exp.1. Significantly more blastocysts were found in control when compared to FasL group and to FasL+SCF group. TB and ICM counts in control and FasL+SCF group were significantly higher comparing to FasL group. Exp.2. We found significant differences between three groups in all three evaluated parameters. The highest blastocyst rates, TB and ICM counts were found in control, lower in HP+SCF group and the worst in HP group. Exp.3. No significant differences in TB and ICM counts were found. More embryos formed blastocyst in control than in two cryopreserved groups. Blastocyst rates did not differ between two cryopreserved groups. Conclusion SCF may improve culture of embryos exposed to unfavorable milieu.

PreImplantation factor (PIF) protects cultured embryos against oxidative stress: relevance for recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) therapy

“…Identification of an endogenous compound that would bind specific targets within the embryo to reduce ROS or other toxicity could be of great benefit. There are ongoing concerns that culturing multiple embryos for a prolonged period can lead to epigenetic adverse effects [5–8]. Cases in point are rare imprinting disorders such as Angelman syndrome, Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and retinoblastoma in children who are conceived with the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) [9].…”

Effects of diagnostic ultrasound on HSP70 expression in chorionic villi in rats during early pregnancy and the role of HSP70 in apoptosis in chorionic villi

“…For example, the epidermal growth factor (EGF) plays an important role in protecting the cell or embryo from damage by promoting the synthesis of glutathione (GSH) (32). Stem cell factor (SCF) may improve the culture of mouse embryos exposed to unfavorable milieu by inhibiting apoptosis (33). Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) can protect the normal development of the pre-implantation bovine embryo by inhibiting apoptosis during heat stress (34).…”

Enhancing effects of serum-rich and cytokine-supplemented culture conditions on developing blastocysts and deriving porcine parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells

“…FGF is needed for maintenance of human ES cells [ 1 ]. SCF is known to have inhibitory effects on apoptosis that are induced by treatment with Fas-L, and enhancing effects on cell recovery during embryo development in vitro [ 10 , 11 ]. Consistent with these findings, we observed more viable embryos in SCF-supplemented media (data not shown).…”