Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanovesicles that carry bioactive cargoes of proteins, lipids, mRNAs, and miRNAs between living cells. Their role in cellular communication has gained the attention of several research reports globally in the last decade. EVs are critically involved in sperm functions, oocyte functions, fertilization, embryonic development, and pregnancy. The review summarizes the state-of-theart of EVs research in the diagnostic and therapeutic (theranostic) potentials of the EVs during the pregnancy that might provide a solution for gestational disturbances such as implantation failure, maternal health problems, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia. EVs can be found in all biological fluids of the fetus and the mother and would provide a non-invasive and excellent tool for diagnostic purposes. Moreover, we provide the current efforts in manufacturing and designing targeted therapeutics using synthetic and semi-synthetic nanovesicles mimicking the natural EVs for efficient drug delivery during pregnancy.

In vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes is the procedure where the immature oocytes are cultivated in a laboratory until they are mature. Since IVM oocytes generally have low developmental competence as compared to those matured in vivo, development of an optimal IVM culture system by fine-tuning culture conditions is crucial to maintain high quality. In-depth knowledge and a deep understanding of the in vivo physiology of oocyte maturation are pre-requisites to accomplish this. Within ovarian follicles, various signaling pathways that drive oocyte development and maturation regulate interaction between oocytes and surrounding somatic cells. This review discusses the sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling pathway, which has been demonstrated to be intimately involved in folliculogenesis and oocyte maturation. Advances in elucidating the role of the SHH signaling pathway in oocyte maturation will aid attempts to improve the current inferior in vitro oocyte maturation system.

Camel (camelus dromedarius) is a unique large mammalian species that can survive harsh environmental conditions and produce milk, meat, and wool. Camel reproduction is inferior when compared to other farm animal species such as cattle and sheep. Several trials have been reported to increase camel reproduction and production through assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs) such as in vitro fertilization and cloning. For these reasons, obtaining enough mature oocytes is a cornerstone for ARTs. This demand would be improved by the oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM) systems. In this review, the current approaches and views from different laboratories using ARTs and the IVM to produce embryos in vitro in camel species. For the last two decades, conventional IVM system was the common approach, however, recently the bi-phasic IVM system has been introduced and showed promising improvement in IVM of camel oocytes. Detailed studies are needed to understand camel meiosis and IVM to efficiently increase the production of this species.

Direct injection of genome editing tools such as CRISPR/Cas9 system into developing embryos has been widely used to generate genetically engineered pigs. The approach allows us to produce pigs carrying targeted modifications at high efficiency without having to apply somatic cell nuclear transfer. However, the targeted modifications during embryogenesis often result in mosaicism, which causes issues in phenotyping founder animals and establishing a group of pigs carrying intended modifications. This study was aimed to establish a genomic PCR and sequencing system of a single blastomere in the four-cell embryos to detect potential mosaicism. We performed genomic PCR in four individual blastomeres from four-cell embryos. We successfully amplified target genomic region from single blastomeres of 4-cell stage embryo by PCR. Sanger sequencing of the PCR amplicons obtained from the blastomeres suggested that PCR-based genotyping of single blastomere was a feasible method to determine mutation type generated by genome editing technology such as CRISPR/Cas9 in early stage embryos. In conclusion, we successfully genotyped single blastomeres in a single 4-cell stage embryo to detect potential mosaicism in porcine embryos. Our approach offers a simple platform that can be used to screen the prevalence of mosaicism from designed CRISPR/Cas9 systems.

This experiment was conducted to analyse the effects of flavone supplementation on the preimplantation development of in-vitro produced porcine embryos. During in-vitro development, immature oocytes and early embryos were exposed to different concentrations of flavone (0, 1μM, 25μM, 50 μM, and 100 μM respectively). Results showed that 100 μM of flavone significantly reduced the intracellular ROS levels of oocytes accompanied with a significant rise in GSH level. In parthenogenesis, no significant change was observed in the cleavage rates whether flavone was supplemented in IVM or IVC media. In IVM supplemented group, the blastocyst development rate was significantly enhanced by 1 μM concentration than other groups (51.5% vs. 41.3%, 44.0%, 36.3%, 31.7%; P<0.05) respectively. However, in IVC group 1 μM concentration significantly improved the blastocysts production than 50 μM and control groups (50.0% vs. 40.5%, 38.0%; P<0.05) respectively. Following nuclear transfer, the cleavage rate of IVM group was significantly more in 1 μM than 50 μM and 100 μM groups (92.9% vs. 89.7%, 87.8%; P<0.05), followed by similar pattern of cloned blastocysts production being significantly higher in 1 μM group than 50 μM, 100 μM and control groups (16.8% vs. 9.0%, 7.1%, 12.8%; P<0.05) respectively. In IVC group, 1 μM concentration resulted in significantly higher cleavage rate than 25 μM and 50 μM groups (91.7% vs. 87.8%, 88.8%; P<0.05) respectively. However, the blastocysts production was significantly higher in 100 μM group than others (26.2% vs. 13.6%, 14.0%, 18.2%; P<0.05) respectively. The optimal concentrations of flavone significantly enhanced the percentages of ICM:TE than control group (43.8% vs. 37.6%; P<0.05) accompanied with significantly higher expression levels of reprogramming related genes. In conclusion, the optimal concentrations of 1 μM during IVM and 100 μM during IVC can significantly improve the production of porcine in-vitro embryos.

The objective of this study was to identify the proteins actively involved in the protection and repair of damaged cells, secreted by canine adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) into the conditioned media. For this purpose, conditioned media (CM) was recovered from passage three stage canine AT-MSCs and skin fibroblasts cultured in serum free media after 24, 48 and 72 h. The extraction of exosomes was performed from 10-20 ml of CM using total exosome isolation kit. The isolated exosomes were then subjected to western analysis for the identification of annexin-I, annexin-II, histone H3 and dysferlin proteins. Results demonstrated the expression of proteins in the conditioned media isolated from canine AT-MSCs reflecting their potential in reducing the extent of damage at cellular levels. In conclusion, the conditioned media derived from canine AT-MSCs can be helpful in restoring the normal structure of cells both in vivo and in vitro conditions.

Introduction Porcine embryonic stem cells (pESCs) derived from cloned embryos might be a useful animal model in biomedical research, however, establishment of cloned pESCs is difficult by its incomplete nuclear reprogramming. Here, we report the improved development competence of porcine cloned embryos by vitamin C (VC) supplement to establish the pESCs. Materials and Methods Slaughterhouse-derived oocytes were in vitro matured for 44h and parthenogenetic and cloned embryos were produced using matured oocytes. Both of embryos were cultured for 6 days in PZM-5 media and development rates were examined. Four different concentration of VC (0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 μg/ml) was supplemented in IVM and IVC media and preimplantation developments in the 5 groups were compared in both of embryos Results and Discussion In the cleavage rates of IVM group, significantly higher rate was shown in 50 mg/ml group than other groups (84.5 ± 0.6% vs. 69.8 ± 5.5, 75.7 ± 1.8, 80.4 ± 0.2, 72.4 ± 0.1%; P<0.05), respectively. Significantly higher rates of blastocyst development also were shown in 50 mg/ml group than other groups (27.0 ± 2.0% vs. 20.4 ± 1.4, 22.1 ± 1.3, 23.7 ± 1.2, 19.6 ± 1.3%; P<0.05), respectively. In the cleavage rate of IVC group, non-significantly different with each group (84.0 ± 1.3, 86.7 ± 1.0, 88.4 ± 1.4, 76.7 ± 3.0, 64.6 ± 4.4; P<0.05). In the blastocyst rate of IVC group, significantly higher rate was shown in 25mg/ml and 50 mg/ml group than other groups (22.3 ± 1.7, 23.8 ± 1.7% vs. 19.1 ± 1.3, 15.9 ± 1.0, 5.8 ± 1.5%; P<0.05) In conclusion, supplement of 50μg/ml of VC in IVM and IVC media enhanced the development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos and these results will be a helpful information in the development of porcine cloned embryos and derivation of its embryonic stem cells.

A 10-day-old, Holstein calf with facial mass of 10 cm in diameter at the forehead region referred to Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in Chungnam National University. The mass was soft and fluctuating swelling. It had normal skin and hair hanging forward from frontal region and was thought to contain cerebrospinal fluid.On the skull radiography, cauliflower like-irregular marginated, soft tissue opacity mass was identified craniodorsal to the frontal bone. The mass appeared as a cyst filled with anechoic fluid on ultrasonography. Soft tissue structures considered brain tissues were observed in the deep area of the mass. On the computed tomography, a large skull defect of left side frontal bone was found, and heterogeneous materials were exposed through the defect but exposure of cerebral meninges and brain tissue were not confirmative. On magnetic resonance imaging, herniated left brain parenchyma showed heterogenous T2 and T1 hyperinsensity. In the intracranium, T2 hyperinstense and T1 hypointense fluid was identified on the left side, instead of left cerebral parenchyma. Also leftward shift of right hemisphere and midline structure, including thalamus and midbrain, were observed. The definitive diagnosis was confirmed as a meningoencephalocele based on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The calf was euthanized and necropsy was performed. On necropsy, both hemisphere were developed unequally with different size. One side hemisphere was grown in the outside through 10 cm hole on the median plane.

This study was conducted to evaluate a visual surveillance system. The advancement of recording technology and network service make it easy to record and transfer the videos. Moreover, progressed recognition technology help to make a distinction each other. Cows show distinguishing behaviors during their estrus period. The mounting is one of the behaviors. The result was different depending on the breed of the cows and the size of the farm. In the case of Korean native cattle, the estrus detection rate was 71.15%, however, dairy cows, the estrus detection rate was 39.38%. At the farms having below 6 modules, the estrus detection rate was 87.41%. On the other hand, at the farms having over 6 modules, the estrus detection rate was 77.78%. With the proper progress, the visual surveillance system can be used to detect heat detection.

Since the first success of animal cloning, somatic cell nuclear transfer presented various ideas in many research areas such as regenerative medicine. However, SCNT embryos has poor survival rate. Therefore, numerous researches carried out to enhance the developmental capability of porcine nuclear transfer embryos. Cytochalasin B, demecolcine, latrunculin A, cycloheximide and 6-dimethylaminopurine are efficient chemicals treated in post-activation procedure to increase the efficiency of SCNT. This review study is aim to investigate the effects of these chemicals applied to post-activation in porcine SCNT. Cytochalasin B, demecolcine, latrunculin A are cytoskeletal manuplators inhibit extrusion of pseudo-polar body. Cytochalasin B and demecolcine showed considerably higher blastocyst formation proportion (26-28%) compared to when they are not treated (16%). And when latrunculin A was treated for postactivation, blastocyst formation proportion was increased in SCNT embryos exposed to LA (38%) than those in control (14%). On the other hand, cycloheximide and 6-dimethylaminopurine are protein synthesis and kinase inhibitors. And they help to maintain Ca2+ fluctuation in oocytes. Cleavage and blastocyst rates of NT embryos were increased when they were exposed to CHX (16.9% and 5.4% with no CHX).And 6-DMAP also showed higher blastocyst formation (21.5% compared to 15.7%, control). Although all these chemicals have different mechanisms, they showed developmental competence enhancement in NT embryos. However, there are only few studies comparing each chemical’s post-activation effect. Therefore, further research and study should be conducted to find optimal chemical for improving the efficiency of SCNT.

This study is performed to evaluate the effect of insulin in the porcine parthenogenetic embryo development. In porcine embryo culture, insulin is helpful factor in the process of embryo development. To identify this, insulin is used in pig embryos development. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the effect of insulin on early embryonic development in pigs. For that, insulin positive or negative (0, 10 ug/mL) was supplemented in the porcine IVM media and then compared two groups divided by the cytoplasm of the black groups and white ring groups based on the distribution of lipid material of the cell cytoplasm in microscope. In maturation rates of porcine oocytes, significant higher black group rates were shown in the insulin positive groups compared with other groups (56.0±2.1 vs 46.2±0.3). In the embryo culture, black groups were showed the significant higher cleavage rates (82.1±0.8, 78.3±0.1 vs 63.2±0.3, 63.4±0.0), and blastocyst formation rates (15.5±3.6, 16.6±0.4 vs 11.7±1.3, 7.4±0.2) regardless of whether the addition of insulin. Also, black groups were showed higher cell number of blastocyst (33.2±2.5, 35.5±2.6 vs 31.2±2.1, 31.3±2.2). In conclusion, supplement of insulin producing black group in vitro maturation, it was effective in vitro maturation and embryonic development of pig embryos.

In the last 10 years, porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer to generate transgenic pig has been performed tremendous development with introduction and knockout of many genes. However, efficiency of porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer is still low and embryo transfer (ET) is one of important step for production efficiency. In porcine ET for production of transgenic cloned pig, we can consider many of points to increase production rates. In respect of seasonality and weather, porcine ET usually is not performed in summer and winter. Cloned transgenic embryos must be transferred into reproductive tracts of recipients where embryos are located after natural fertilization with similar estrous cycle. If cloned embryos with 2∼4 cell stage are transferred, they must be transferred into oviducts in periovulatory stage. Number and deposition sites of transferred cloned embryos are important. And we must compare the methods of ET between surgical and non-surgical ones in respect of production efficiency. Sow recipients after natural estrus is most preferred recipients however its cost is must be considered. Here we will review many of current studies about porcine embryo transfer to increase production efficiency of transgenic pigs and strategies for further studies.