Cytokine supplemented maturation medium improved development to term following somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) in cattle

Context In vitro maturation is an important process in the production of embryos. It has been shown that three cytokines, fibroblast growth factor 2, leukemia inhibitory factor and insulin-like growth factor 1 (FLI), increased efficiency of in vitro maturation, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) blastocyst production, and in vivo development of genetically engineered piglets. Aims Assess effects of FLI on oocyte maturation, quality of oocytes, and embryo development in bovine in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and SCNT. Key results Cytokine supplementation resulted in significant increases in maturation rates and decreased levels of reactive oxygen species. Oocytes matured in FLI had increased blastocyst rates when used in IVF (35.6% vs 27.3%, P < 0.05) and SCNT (40.6% vs 25.7%, P < 0.05). SCNT blastocysts contained significantly more inner cell mass and trophectodermal cells when compared to the control group. Importantly, SCNT embryos derived from oocytes matured in FLI medium resulted in a four-fold increase in full-term development compared to control medium (23.3% vs 5.3%, P < 0.05). Relative mRNA expression analysis of 37 genes associated with embryonic and fetal development revealed one gene had differential transcript abundance in metaphase II oocytes, nine genes at the 8-cell stage, 10 genes at the blastocyst stage in IVF embryos and four genes at the blastocyst stage in SCNT embryos. Conclusions Cytokine supplementation increased efficiency of in vitro production of IVF and SCNT embryos and in vivo development of SCNT embryos to term. Implications Cytokine supplementation is beneficial to embryo culture systems, which may shed light on requirements of early embryo development.