The objective of this study was to examine the effect of EGF on meiotic maturation and pronuclear (PN) formation of porcine oocytes. Prepubertal gilt cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COCs) aspirated from 2~6mm follicles of abbatoir ovaries were matured in TCM199 containing 0.1mg/ml cysteine, 0.5㎍/ml FSH and LH, and EGF (0, 5, 10, 20, 40 ng/ml) for 22 hr at 39℃ in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air. They were then cultured for an additional 22hr without hormones. In Experiment 1, to examine the nuclear maturation at 44hr of culture, the expanded cumulus cells were removed by vortexing for 1 min in 3 mg/ml hyaluronidase. The oocytes were fixed in acetic acid: methanol (1:3, v/v) at least for 48 hr and stained with 1% orcein solution for 5 min. Nuclear status was classified as germinal vesicle (GV), germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), prophase-metaphase I (PI-MI), and PII-MII under microscope. In Experiment 2, to investigate PN formation, oocytes were fertilized with Percoll-treated freshly ejaculated sperm (1 x10 5 cells/ml) in mTBM with 0.3% BSA and 2mM caffeine for 5hr, and cultured in NCSU-23 medium with 0.4% BSA. At 6hr of culture, the embryos were fixed in 3.7% formaldehyde for 48hr and stained with 10ug/ml propidium iodide for 30 min. PN status was classified as no or one PN (unfertilized), 2 PN (normal fertilized) and ≥3 PN (polyspermy). Differences between groups were analyzed using one-way ANOVA after arc-sine transformation of the proportional data. The rate of oocytes that had reached to PII-MII were significantly (P<0.05) higher in all groups added EGF than that of non-treated group (67%), but it did not differ among the all added groups (86%, 85%, 79% and 81%, in 5, 10, 20 and 40 ng/ml EGF, respectively). No differences on the incidence of 2PN were observed in all treated groups (25%, 30%, 33%, 29% and 29%, in 0, 5, 10, 20 and 40 ng/ml EGF, respectively), however, in non-treated group, polyspermy tended to be increased (66% vs 58%, 54%, 52% and 55%, 0 vs. 5, 10, 20, 40 ng/ml EGF, respectively). These results suggest that EGF can be effectively used as an additive for enhancing oocyte maturation and reducing the incidence of polyspermy in pig.

본 연구는 돼지 미성숙 난포란의 유리화 동결액에 노출시 독성과 삼투압 스트레스가 가장 적은 유리화 동결액을 조사하기 위하여 실시하였으며, 그 결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 미성숙 난포란을 EFS(40% ethylene glycol +18% ficoll +0.3 M sucrose) 용액, ES(5.5 M ethylene glycol +1.0 M sucrose) 용액, GE(10% glycerol +20% ethylene glycol) 용액에 각각 노출하고 대조구로 아무 처리하지 않은 난포란을 체외성숙하여 관찰한 체외성숙율은 ES 용액과 대조구 에서 EFS 용액과 GE 용액보다 유의적으로 높았으며(P<0.05), 유리화 동결액의 독성에 의한 난포란의 퇴화율은 대조구, ES 용액, EFS 용액, GE 용액 순으로 유의적으로 낮은 퇴화율을 나타내었다(P<0.05). 미성숙 난포란을 EFS 용액, ES용액, GE용액에 각각 노출하고 대조구로 아무 처리하지 않은 난포란을 체외성숙, 체외수정하여 관찰한 정상 수정율은 대조구가 세 종류의 유리화 동결액보다 유의적으로 높았고(P<0.05), 유리화 동결액 간에는 유의적인 차이가 없었다. 다정자 침입율과 난자당 침입한 평균 정자수는 모든 처리구간에 유의적인 차이가 없었다. 미성숙 난포란을 EFS 용액, ES 용액, GE 용액에 각각 노출하고 대조구로 아무 처리하지 않은 난포란을 체외성숙, 체외수정, 체외 배양하여 관찰한 수정 3 일째의 분할율은 ES 용액과 대조구가 EFS 용액과 GE 용액보다 유의적으로 높았으며(P<0.05), 수정 7일째의 배반포 형성율은 모든 처리구간에 유의적인 차이가 없었다. 배양기간 동안 나타난 퇴화율은 대조구가 세 가지 유리화 동결액에 비해 유의적으로 낮았고(P<0.05), ES 용액은 EFS 용액과 GE 용액보다 유의적으로 낮은 퇴화율을 나타내었다(P<0.05).

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of vitrification solution(VS) on in vitro developmental competence of immature porcine oocytes. The immature porcine oocytes were exposed to the following vitrification solution, at RT. 1) EFS sol. : 20% ethylene glycol (EG) 3 min, 40% EG + 18%(w/v) Ficoll(MV70, 000) + 0.3 M sucrose 30 sec, 2) GE sol. : 10% glycerol 5 min, 10% G + 20% EG 5 min, 25% G +25% EG 30 sec, 3) EG sol : 1.5M EG 2.5 min, 5.5 M EG + 1.0 M sucrose 30 sec. Oocytes were immediately transferred into 1.0 M, 0.5 M, 0.25 M, 0125 M, 0 M sucrose solution for 2.5 min each at RT. After removal of VS, immature oocytes were matured in vitro and subsequently all oocytes were subjected to IVF followed in vitro culture for 7 days. Maturation rates of oocytes were 38.8%, 44.5%, 22.4% and 57.6%, in EFS, EG, GE and Control, respectively, maturation rates of oocytes in EG and Control was significantly higher than EFS and GE(P<0.01). Fertilization rates of oocytes in Control was significantly higher than other treated groups(P<0.05), but no difference were observed among treated groups. Polyspermic rates were no significant difference among four groups. Cleavage rates of oocytes were 21.9%, 47.1%, 19.0% and 65.9%, in EFS, EG, GE and Control, respectively, cleavage rates of oocytes in EG and Control was significantly higher than EFS and GE(P<0.05), but blastocyst formation rates were no significant difference among four groups. These results suggested that the use of EG solution could be a great challenge for reaching a successful vitrification of immature porcine oocytes.