The aim of this study was to investigate what components of porcine epididymal fluid (pEF) influences the nuclear maturation of porcine germinal vesicle oocytes. Porcine cumulus-oocytes complexes from follicles were cultured in TCM 199 containing pEF. After 48 h cultures, oocytes were examined for evidence of GV breakdown, metaphase I, anaphase-telophase I, and metaphase II. Maturation rate of oocytes was significantly increased in media supplemented with 10% pEF during in vitro maturation (IVM) than in those without pEF. When lipid component of pEF was removed by treating n-heptane, no significant difference was observed in maturation of oocytes between n-heptane treatrment and intact pEF group. However, the proportion of oocytes reaching at metaphase II (M II) was significantly (p<0.05) decreased in the oocytes cultured in media containing trypsin-treated pEF compared to those in media with intact pEF. When porcine GV oocytes were matured in the medium supplemented with intact pEF or pEF heated at 56'C and 97'C, rates of oocytes remained at GV stage were 11.7%, 29.4% and 42.0%, respectively. However, there were no difference in proportion of oocytes reaching at MII stage among intact pEF group and 56'C group. Present study suggests that 1) pEF contains an enhancing component(s) for nuclear maturation in vitro of oocytes, 2) protein(s) of pEF may be capable to promote nuclear maturation in vitro, and 3) enhancing component for nuclear maturation may consist of two factors, which are responsible for germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and promotion of MII stage.

This study was conducted to establish an in vitro maturation (IVM) system by selection of efficient macromolecule in the porcine in vitro production (IVP) technology. To choose the efficient macromolecules in the development of porcine embryos, the effects of 3 kinds of macromolecules (porcine serum; PS, porcine follicular fluid; pFF, and polyvinyl alcohol; PVA) supplemented in IVM media on the maturation, cleavage, and development rates to blastocyst of parthenogenetic activation (PA) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos were examined. The maturation rates of porcine oocytes in media supplemented with PS were significantly higher than those with pFF and PVA (92.4% vs. 85.4%, 77.1%; p<0.05). In the cleavage and development to blastocyst rates, supplement with PS or pFF in the IVM media was more effective than PA. However, there were no significant differences in cleavage and development to blastocyst between PS and pFF group. From the results of this study, it was demonstrated that PS was optimal macromolecule in the porcine IVM media.

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of the supplementation of glutamine, glucosamine and glutathione on the porcine oocytes on IVM rates. Cocs were incubated in NCSU-23 supplemented with at glucosamine, glutamine and glutathione for 48 hrs. Oocytes were transferred to 50 ul drops of maturation medium covered with mineral oil and cultured in a incubator (, 5% , 95% air). The IVM rates of oocytes cultured in NCSU-23 supplemented with 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 mM glutamine for 48 hrs were , , and , respectively. The IVM rates of oocytes cultured in NCSU-23 supplement with 2.0, 5.0, 7.0, 10.0 mM glucosamine for 48 hrs were , , and , respectively. The IVM rates of oocytes cultured in NCSU-23 supplemented with glucosamine were no significantly increased compare to the control (). The IVM rate of oocytes cultured in NCSU-23 supplemented with 3.0, 5.0, 7.0, 10.0 mM glutathione for 48 hrs were , , , , respectively. The IVM rate of oocytes cultured in NCSU-23 supplemented with glutamine and glutathione were significantly increased co~pared to those control (). Glucosamine did not affect the IVM rates of oocytes. IVM rates of oocytes cultured in NCSU-23 medium for 48 hrs were significantly increased compared to the cultured for 40 hrs.

In the present study, effects of concentration of cryoprotectant solutions on the nuclear maturation of vitrified-thawed porcine oocytes were examined. Also, the developmental capacity of vitrified-thawed immature porcine oocytes following ICSI was investigated. Oocytes were cultured in NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 5% FBS at in 5% and air. The in vitro maturation rate of vitrified-thawed oocytes () was lower than that of the control (, p<0.05). The in vitro maturation rate of vitrified-thawed oocytes treated with CB + NCSU- 23 medium were , , , , respectively. The in vitro maturation rate () of the vitrified-thawed oocytes treated with CB for 30 min was the highest of all vitrification groups. When the in vitro developmental rates of the vitrified-thawed (with EDS and EDT) oocytes following ICSI were , , respectively. This results were lower than the control group ().

Surface-enhanced laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) is one of the recently developed proteomic technologies which is based on capturing proteins and peptides by chemically modified surfaces and highly sensitive for the analysis of complex biological samples. In the present study, to gain insights into oocyte maturation and early embryo development, SELDI-TOF-MS was used to find the protein candidates that are specifically or prominently expressed in porcine oocytes at the in vitro matured metaphase II (MIIl) and germinal vesicle (GV) stages. By selected CM10 chip, 16 candidates were found to be up-regulated in GV stage oocytes compared with in MII stage oocytes, their molecular weights were 8,180 (2 candidates), 10,226 (5 candidates), 15,767 (5 candidates) and 16,770 (4 candidates) Da respectively. And the expression of 29 candidates were higher in MII than in GV stage oocytes, their molecular weight were 10,832 (3 candidates), 17,743 (8 candidates), 20,122 (3 candidates), 22,131 (3 candidates), 24,857 (7 candidates) and 33,507 (5 candidates) Da, respectively. The expression of selected 13 candidates (0.2 and 1.0 % error tolerances) were analyzed using real time RT-PCR. The proteins that differentially regulated during oocyte in vitro maturation in the pigs may be potential biomarkers of oocyte maturation and quality.

This study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of vitrification procedure for the cryopreservation of porcine oocytes and the utilization of vitrified oocytes as recipient cytoplasts for somatic cell nuclear transfer (NT), and observed that porcine oocytes are evaluated by pronuclear formation, and parthenogenetic development. Single fetal donor cells were deposited into the perivitelline space of vitrified enucleation oocytes, followed by electrical fusion and activation. NT embryos were cultured in NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 5% FBS, at in 5% and air. 1. When the developmental rates of the oocytes after being culture for hours vitrified with EDS and ETS were 42.0%, 38.0%, respectively. This results were lower than the control group(62.2%). 2. When the developmental rates of the oocytes after being culture for hours vitrified-thawed with sucrose and glucose, 5% PVP, NCSU-23 supplemented with 10% FBS were 33.3%, 25.9%, respectively. This results were lower than the control group(55.6%). 3. The fusion and development to the blastocyst stage between the NT embryos constructed with the vitrified and non-vitrified oocytes were significant differences. Developmental rate of oocytes and NT embryos constructed with the vitrified or non-vitrified oocytes were , respectively.

The aim of present experiment was to examine hatching rate as in vitro indicator of viability of porcine embryos before early stage embryo transfer such as zygotes or 2-cell stage embryos. Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) collected from ovaries were matured in North Carolina State University 23 (NCSU-23) containing 10% porcine follicular fluid (pFF), 10 ng/ml epidermal growth factor (EGF), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and 1mg/ml cysteine. After 24 hours, the COCs were transferred to the same medium without hormones. After 65h of maturation, oocytes were exposed to phosphate buffered saline (PBS) with 7% ethanol (v/v) for 7 minutes, and then the oocytes were washed and cultured in tissue culture medium (TCM) 199 containing 5 ug/ml cytochalasin B for 5h at in an atmosphere of 5% and 95% air with high humidity. After cytochalasin B treatment, the presumptive parthenotes were cultured in porcine zygote medium (PZM)-5 and cleavage of the parthenotes was assessed at 72h of activation, Normally cleaved parthenotes were cultured for an additional 8 days to evaluate their ability to develop to blastocyst and hatching stages. The fetal bovine serum (FBS) were added at Day 4 or 5 with concentrations of 2.5, 5 or 10%. The blastocyst rates were ranged within in each treatment. However hatching rate was dramatically decreased in non-addition group. In this experiment, embryo viability in female reproductive tract may be estimated before embryo transfer with in vitro culture adding FBS by hatching ability.

Our goal was to examine the effects of early denudation on the enucleation efficiency and developmental competence of embryos following somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and parthenogenetic activation (PA). Oocytes were denuded following 30 h of in vitro maturation (IVM) and then cultured with (D+) or without (D-) their detached cumulus cells for additional h. Control oocytes were denuded after h of IVM. The size of the perivitelline space was larger at 40 h of IVM () than at 30 h ( p<0.01). The distances between the metaphase II (M II) plates and the polar bodies (PBs) were shorter in D+ () and D- oocytes () than in control oocytes ( p<0.01). Enucleation rates following blind aspiration at 40 h of IVM were higher (p<0.01) in D+ (92%) and D- oocytes (93%) compared to controls (82%). Early denudation did not affect oocyte maturation or the in vitro development of SCNT and PA embryos. When SCNT embryos from D+ oocytes were transferred to four gilts, pregnancy was established in two pigs, and one of them farrowed three live piglets. In conclusion, early denudation of oocytes at 30 h of IVM could improve the enucleation efficiency by maintaining the M II plate and the PB within close proximity and support the in vivo development of SCNT embryos to term.

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of morphology of oocytes, kinds of media, cysteine and myo-inositol supplementation on IVM rate of porcine oocytes. Cumulus- enclosed oocytes were incubated in maturation NCSU-23 and TCM-199 medium with supplementation with 3, 5, 10, 20 mM myo-inositol and 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 mM cysteine. 1. When classified by morphology, excellent, good and fair of cumulus-enclosed oocytes were incubated for 48 hrs and the IVM rate were , respectively. The rate were greater in oocytes with excellent cumulus cells than those without cumulus cells. 2. The IVM rate of oocytes cultured in TCM-199 and NCSU- 23 medium supplementation or non-supplementation with 1.0 mM myo-inositol were , respectively. Supplementation with myo-inositol significantly increased the IVM rate of oocytes. 3. The IVM rate of oocytes cultured in NCSU-23 medium supplementation of 3, 5, 10, 20 mM myo-inositol for 48 hrs were , respectively. The IVM rate of oocytes in NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 10 mM myo-inositol were significantly increased compared to control (). 4. The IVM rate of oocytes cultured for 48 hrs in NCSU-23 media supplement with 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 mM myo-inositol were , respectively. The IVM rate of oocytes in NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 10 mM cysteine were significantly increased compared to control ().

These study was carried out to investigate the effects of the collection time, culture time and activation of canine oocytes on in vitro maturation rates. The activated oocytes were cultured in 10% FCS+TCM-199 media containing hormonal supplements (10 IU/ml HCG, 10 IU/ml PMSG, 10 ug/ml gonadotropin) at 5% , 95% air, . 1. IVM rate of in vitro cultured cumulus-attached oocytes recovered from ovaries that collected at follicular and luteal stages of the reproductive cycles were 11.4% and 5.7%, respectively. IVM rate of oocytes recovered from ovaries that collected at follicular stages of the reproductive cycles was significantly higher than that of luteal stage (p<0.05). 2. When IVM was carried out at different periods of 40, 48, and 70 hrs, the IVM rates of oocytes matured in vitro were 2.9%, 8.6%, 5.7%, respectively. These results indicate that the IVM time between hrs gives the highest maturation rate for the oocytes matured at the different stages. 3. IVM rate of oocytes matured in vitro for 10 hrs after single and combined activation treatment by ET, IP and CH and Ca+DMAP, CH+DMAP, ET+CH were respectively. This was higher than that in both single and combined stimulated groups compared to control group ().