This study was conducted to investigate the effect of biological membrane transfer modifier, lysophospholipd (LPLs) on the parameters from in vitro rumen simulated fermentation. Commercially available LPLs product (LipidolTM) was supplemented into experimental diets which consisted of orchard grass and concentrate diet (60:40) in different levels (0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5%). Then in vitro rumen simulated fermentation was performed. Although, a declining trend of pH was found in treatments, all pH values were detected in a range relevant to normal rumen fermentation. Gas production, ammonia nitrogen and total VFA production were greatly influenced by the supplementation of LPLs. All parameters were increased along with increased levels of LPLs in diet. As a result, 0.1% of LipidolTM is recommended based on the determined in vitro rumen fermentative parameters in this study.

An in vitro study was conducted to determine the effects of defaunation (removal of protozoa) and forage sources (rice straw, ryegrass and tall fescue) on ruminal fermentation characteristics, methane (CH4) production and degradation by rumen microbes. Sodium lauryl sulfate, as a defaunation reagent, was added into the mixed culture solution to remove ruminal protozoa at a concentration of 0.375 mg/ml. Pure cellulose (0.64 g, Sigma, C8002) and three forage sources were incubated in the bottle of culture solution of mixed rumen microbes (faunation) or defaunation for up to 24 h. The concentration of ammonia-N was high under condition of defaunation compared to that from faunation in all incubations (p<0.001). Total VFA concentration was increased at 3, 6 and 12 h (p<0.05~p<0.01) but was decreased at 24 h incubation (p<0.001) under condition of defaunation. Defaunation decreased acetate (p<0.001) and butyrate (p<0.001) proportions at 6, 12 and 24 h incubation times, but increased propionate (p<0.001) proportion at all incubation times for forages. Effective degradability of dry matter was decreased by defaunation (p<0.001). Defaunation not only decreased total gas (p<0.001) and CO2 (p<0.01~0.001) production at 12 and 24 h incubations, but reduced CH4 production (p<0.001) at all incubation times for all forages. The CH4 production, regardless of defaunation, in order of forage sources were rice straw > tall fescue > ryegrass > cellulose (p<0.001) up to 24 h incubation.

Until recently the most popular tetracycline-inducible gene expression system has been the one developed by Gossen and Bujard. In this study, we tested the latest version of same system and the results are summarized as follows: Compared with previous one, the difference of new system are minor changes of nucleotide sequences in transactivator and tetracycline response element (TRE) regions. Sensitivity to the doxycycline (a tetracycline derivative) was improved. Leakiness of GFP marker gene expression in non-inducible condition was significantly decreased. Higher expression of the marker gene was observed when the cells were fed with doxycycline- containing medium. Optimal insertion site of woodchuck posttranscriptional regulatory element (WPRE) sequence which was known to increase gene expression was different depending on the origin of cells. In chicken embryonic fibroblast, location of WPRE sequence at 3’ end of TRE resulted in the highest GFP expression. In bovine embryonic fibroblasts, 3’ end of transactivator was the best site for the GFP expression.

The present study was performed to investigate the effect of Hh-Ag1.5, a small-molecule chemical agonist of SMOothened receptor, on the in vitro maturation and development of in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos in pigs. Oocytes or fertilized embryos were cultured in a maturation or embryo culture medium supplemented with 0 (control), 25, 50 or 100 nM of Hh-Ag1.5, respectively. Although the maturation rate were not different among treatment groups, the blastocyst formation rate in the group treated with 25 nM Hh-Ag1.5 was significantly increased compared to other groups (P<0.05). While the highest dose of Hh-Ag1.5 (100 nM) did negatively affect to the embryo development and cell number in blastocysts compared to other groups (P<0.05), the apoptotic cell index in blastocysts was significantly lower in 25 and 50 nM groups than in control and 100 nM groups (P<0.05). The mRNA expression of the proapoptotic gene Bax and the ratio of Bax/Bcl-XL decreased in among treatment groups compared to control (P<0.05). The embryo quality related genes, Tert and Zfp42, were significantly decreased in 50 and 100 nM groups compared with control and 25 nM groups (P<0.05). In conclusion, the addition of 25 nM Hh-Ag1.5 to in vitro maturation and culture medium can enhance the developmental potential as well as quality of IVF embryos in pig.

Pyracantha is a genus of thorny evergreen large shrubs in the family of Rosaceae, with common names Firethorn or Pyracantha. It's extract has also been used in cosmetics as a skin-whitening agent and functioning through tyrosinase inhibition. Recent studies have shown that pyracantha extract possesses antioxidant activities and may significantly improve lipoprotein metabolism in rats. Although the mode of action of Pyracantha extract is not fully understood, a strong relationship was observed between antioxidant and apoptosis in some types of cells. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluated the effect of pyracantha extract on blastocysts formation and their quality of the porcine parthenogenetic embryos. After parthenogenetic activation by chemicals, presumptive porcine parthenogenetic embryos were cultured in PZM-3 medium supplemented with extracts of pyracantha leaf, stalk and root for 6 day (1, 5 and 10 μg/ml, respectively). In our results, the frequency of blastocyst formation in pyracantha root extract (5 μg/ml) treated group had increased that of other groups. Furthermore, blastocysts derived from pyracantha root extract (5 μg/ml) treated group had increased the total cell numbers and reduced apoptotic index. Blastocyst development was significantly improved in the pyracantha root extract (5 μg/ml) treated group when compared with the H2O2 treated group (p<0.05). Subsequent evaluation of the intracellular levels of ROS in pyracantha root extract (5 μg/ml) treated groups under H2O2 induced oxidative stress were decreased (p<0.05). In conclusion, our results indicate that treatment of pyracantha root extract may improve in vitro development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos through its antioxidative and antiapoptotic effects.

돌나물 유전자원의 기내 활성보존을 위하여, 10mm 크기의 기내배양 shoot를 agar, Gelrite, ABA 및 sucrose 농도를 달리한 MS 배지에 치상하여, 4oC와 25oC에서 계대배양 없이 보존하였다. 배지는 0.2mg · L−1 BA를 기본으로 첨가하였고, agar와 Gelrite 배지에는 5% sucrose, ABA 배지에는 5% sucrose와 1.2% agar, sucrose 배지 에는 1.2% agar를 각각 첨가하였다. 상온 활성보존(25oC) 에서 sucrose와 Gelrite 배지는 생장억제 효과가 거의 없었고, 0.2mg · L−1 BA + 10mg · L−1 ABA + 1.2% agar, 또는 0.2mg · L−1 BA + 1.6% agar를 첨가한 배지가 효과적이었으며, 계대배양 없이 10개월까지 활성보존이 가능 하였다. 저온 활성보존(4oC)에서 12개월후 생존율은 모든 배지에서 100%였으며, 10mg · L−1 ABA, 또는 6% sucrose 첨가배지에서 계대배양 없이 18개월 이상의 활성보존이 가능하였다. 특히 고농도 sucrose 배지는 저온 활성보존(4oC)에서 돌나물 유전자원의 장기간 활성유지에 가장 효과적이었다.

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of L-cysteine on sperm characteristics and oocyte cleavage in vitro in Korean native cattle. For this study, the freezing of diluted semen were added with Triladyl containing 20% eggyolk and/or 0, 5, 10 and 20 mM L-cysteine before cryopreservation. The viability in frozen-thawed sperm were estimated by SYBR14/PI double stain, acrosome damage with FITC-PNA, mitochondria intact with Rhodamin123 and hydrogen peroxide(H2O2) level with carboxy-DCFDA by flow-cytometry. The developmental capacity was also assessed with cleavage rates in oocytes fertilized in vitro by frozen-thawed sperm. In results, the sperm viability was significantly increased in 10 mM and 20 mM concentrations of L-cysteine than other groups (p<0.05). In addition, acrosome damage was significantly decreased in 10 mM and 20 mM concentrations of L-cysteine than other groups (p<0.05). The mitochondria intact was also significantly increased in 10 mM and 20 mM concentrations of L-cysteine than other groups (p<0.05). On the other hand, the cleavage rates were significantly increased in 0 mM, 5 mM and 10 mM groups than 20 mM concentration of L-cysteine (p<0.05). The oocyte degeneration of oocytes were significantly decreased in 0 mM, 5 mM and 10 mM groups than in 20 mM L-cysteine group (P<0.05). However, there are no significantly differences among the L-cysteine treatment groups. We suggest that concentration of 10 mM L-cysteine have beneficial impact for sperm cryopreserved in Korean native cattle. This result also could be recommended for artificial insemination program if supported by an improvement in the fertility results and required further study.

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of high concentrations of glucose on porcine parthenotes developing in vitro. Addition of 55 mM glucose to the culture medium of embryos at the four-cell-stage significantly inhibited blastocyst formation, resulting in fewer cells in blastocyst-stage embryos and increased levels of apoptosis and autophagy compared to control. Quantitative reverse transcriptase (RT) PCR analysis revealed that the expression of pro-apoptotic genes (Caspase 3, Bax and Bak) and autophagy genes (Atg6 and Atg8/Lc3) were increased significantly by the addition of 55 mM glucose to the culture medium compared to control. MitoTracker Green fluorescence revealed a decrease in the overall mitochondrial mass compared to control. However, the addition of 55 mM glucose had no effect on mRNA expression of the nuclear DNA-encoded mitochondrial-related genes, cytochrome oxidase (Cox) 5a, Cox5b and Cox6b1. These results suggest that hyperglycemia reduced the mitochondrial content of porcine embryos developing in vitro and that this may hinder embryonic development to the blastocyst stage and embryo quality by increasing apoptosis and autophagy in these embryos.

Developmental potential of cloned embryos is related closely to epigenetic modification of somatic cell genome. The present study was to investigate the effects of applying histone deacetylation inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA) to activated porcine embryos on subsequent development of porcine parthenogenetic and nuclear transfer embryos. Electrically activated oocytes were treated with 5 nM TSA for different exposure times (0, 1, 2 and 4 hr) and then the activated embryos were cultured for 7 days. The reconstructed embryos were treated with different concentrations of 0, 5, 10 and 25 nM TSA for 1 hr. Also 5 nM TSA was tested with different exposure times of 0, 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 hr. And fetal fibroblast cells were treated with 50 nM TSA for 1, 2 or 4 hr and with 5 nM TSA for 1 hr. Cumulus-free oocytes were enucleated and reconstructed by TSA-treated donor cells and electrically fused and cultured for 6 days. In parthenogenetic activation experiments, 5 nM TSA treatment for 1 hr significantly improved the percentage of blastocyst developmental rates than the other groups. Total cell number of blastocysts in 1 hr group was significantly higher than other groups or control. Similarly, blastocyst developmental rates of porcine NT embryos following 5 nM TSA treatment for 1 hr were highest. And the reconstructed embryos from donor cells treated by 50 nM TSA for 1 hr improved the percentage of blastocyst developmental rates than the control group. In conclusion, TSA treatment could improve the subsequent blastocyst development of porcine parthenogenetic and nuclear transfer embryos.

1. ‘Florex Gold’ 품종의 측아 기내배양에서 auxin류의 단용처리는 multiple shoot 발생을 유도하지 못했다. Callus 형성은 2,4-D 1.0 mg/L 처리구에서 63.3%로 가장 높았고, multiple shoot 형성은 cytokinin인 zeatin 1.0 mg/L 처리구에서 평균 8.1개로 가장 높게 나타났다. 2. ‘Florex Gold’의 증식 실험에서 callus 형성은 NAA 1.0 mg/L와 BA 1.0 mg/L이 혼용처리된 MS 배지에서 26(86.7%)개의 절편체에서 발생해 가장 높았다. 또한 동일한 배지 조건이 multiple shoot발생에도 가장 효과적이었고, 평균 16.9개(평균길이4.6 cm)의 신초가 발생하였다. 3. ‘Florex Gold’ 신초의 발근유도 실험에서 2,4-D 1.0 mg/L처리가 절편체당 평균 6.7(3.2 cm)개의 뿌리를 유도하여 ‘Florex Gold’ 신초의 발근 유도에 가장 적합한 것으로 나타난 반면 NAA는 발근유도에 부적합 한 것으로 나타났다.

Artificial insemination (AI) has been performed widely in swine industry using fresh liquid sperm instead of frozen type of sperm. However fresh sperm are not able to preserve more than three days with optimal motility and other sperm parameters for the successful fertilization, since in vitro stored sperm has an oxidative stress that resulted increase of abnormality and acrosome reation. To overcome these major problems, novel preservative formulation is needed to neutralize the oxidative stress and to provide suitable physiological environment for sperm in in vitro. In this study, naturally derived substances such as Poncirus trifoliate (Trifoliate orange), Garcinia mangostana (Mangosteen), pig placenta and testis extracts were tested as sperm preservative agents. Placenta extracts (PE), trifoliate orange extracts (TOE), testes extracts (TE) and mangosteen extracts (ME) were applied to analyze specific parameters for sperm motion characteristics individually and combinatorial. Each individual extract treatment can accelerate the sperm motility but noticeably TOE, TE and ME treatments exhibited the considerable and significant preservation of sperm motility. PE, TE and ME showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in ALH after one week. Further we evaluated the five different combinations of these extracts on sperm motility and its motion characteristics. Surprisingly even after one week ME, TOE and TE combination significantly preserved the sperm motility about 75%. It is noteworthy that unlike individual extract treatment, combination of ME, TOE and TE simultaneously protect the sperm motility and its motion characteristics. Taken together these data conclude that addition of ME, TOE and TE can be effective for preservation of pig sperm.

This study examined the motility of either the unattached(upper) or attached(lower) Hanwoo sperm to bovine oviduct epithelial cell(BOEC) monolayers to determine whether there are any changes in their motility during co-culture. The cleavage and blastocyst development rate were compared among different preincubation methods in-vitro, after oocytes were fertilized in-vitro with Hanwoo sperm on BOEC monolayers. The motility of frozen-thawed sperm in BOEC co-culture group was significantly higher than controls, especially at 5 hours and 6 hours (p<0.05) of incubation, in sperm treatment medium without heparin and caffeine. The motility of frozen-thawed sperm in BOEC co-culture group was significantly higher than controls, especially at 3 hours (p<0.05) and 6 hours (p<0.01), in sperm treatment medium containing heparin and caffeine. The motility of the attached( lower) sperm was significantly higher than the unattached(upper) sperm during co-culture with BOEC at all times(p<0.01 or p<0.05), except for 6 hours. After Hanwoo oocytes were fertilized in-vitro with the sperm that had been co-cultured with BOEC in sperm treatment medium containing heparin and caffeine, we determined the cleavage and blastocyst development rate, according to the preincubation methods. Both the cleavage and blastocyst development rate from 2 hour preincubation group were the highest, but significant difference was not recognized. These results show that BOEC plays an important role on sperm hyperactivation related to capacitation regardless of heparin and caffeine in sperm treatment medium. However, oviduct epithelial cell had no significant effect on the development of embryos after in-vitro fertilization in the presence of added heparin and caffeine in sperm treatment medium.

A simple and efficient protocol was developed for somatic embryogenesis from the cotyledon explant of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. Seeds of peony obtained from fieldgrown plants were disinfested and zygotic embryos were excised. For germination, excised embryos were cultured on the Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 3% (w/v) sucrose, 0.8% (w/v) agar, and different concentrations of N6 benzyl-adenine (BA) and gibberellic acid (GA3). The greatest germination percentage (95%) was observed when embryos were cultured on the MS medium with 1.0 mg • L-1 BA and 0.5 mg • L-1 GA3, and maintained at 25 ± 2°C under a 16 h photoperiod. Thirty days old cotyledon explants were cultured on the MS medium supplemented with different concentrations and combinations of plant growth regulators viz., BA, GA3, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and á-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). After 90 days, the globular embryos were directly formed on the surface of explants. The highest frequency of somatic embryo induction (72.5) was obtained on the MS medium with 3.0 mg • L-1 BA, 1.0 mg • L-1 NAA, 1.0 mg • L-1 GA3, and 0.1% (w/v) activated charcoal (AC), with a mean number of 14 embryos per explant. Maturation of globular embryos into heart- and torpedo-shape was observed on the same medium. When the torpedo-shaped embryos were transferred onto the same MS medium supplemented with 3.0 mg • L-1 BA, 1.0 mg • L-1 NAA, 1.0 mg • L-1 GA3, and 0.1% (w/v) AC, secondary somatic embryos were observed on the surface of primary somatic embryos. When the embryos were transferred to the MS medium supplemented with 1.0mg • L-1 each of BA and GA3, all of them converted into plantlets, but their growth was very slow.

본 연구는 돼지의 난포란을 체외성숙하여 세포질내정자주입(ICSI)에 의해 생산된 체외수 정란의 체외발달율을 평가하기 위하여 실시하였다. 세포질내정자주입에 의한 체외수정란의 발달율은 서로 다른 보존상태의 정자인 신선정자, 액상정자 및 동결-융해된 정자를 이용하 더라도 수정율과 배발달율에는 영향을 미치지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 세포질내정자주입 후 난자의 전기적 활성화를 처리한 실험군이 활성화를 처리하지 않은 실험군에 비해 수정율과 배반포기배로의 발달율에 있어서는 높은 경향을 나타내었으나, 체외수정 실험군 및 전기적 활성화를 처리한 실험군과 전기적 활성화를 처리하지 않은 실험군간 배반포기배의 할구수는 유의적인 차이를 나타내지 않았다. 또한 각각의 실험군에서 얻은 배반포기배의 염색체를 분 석한 결과, 정상 이배체 염색체상의 비율에 있어서도 유의성을 나타내지 않았다.

Internalization and expression of extracellular molecules into cells and tissues is known very important process to biological processes and therapy of various diseases. In this study, we analyzed expression pattern of extracellular molecule after transduction into various human cells. To investigate cellular expression of internalized molecule, we used adenovirus containing green fluorescence protein. After infection of adenovirus into various human cells, the efficiency of intracellular gene expression was assessed with determining GFP expressing cells by fluorescence microscopy or FACS. After one day of adenovirus infection into HepG2 and A549, we observed that GFP expression was low at 10moi but expression levels were increased at 100moi in both cells. But, adenovirus infection into HCT116 showed low expression of GFP at concentrations from 1moi to 100moi. After 2 day infection with adenovirus, GFP expression level at 10moi and 100moi was highly increased in HepG2 and A549 compared with 1 day infection. Especially, GFP expression was significantly increased in HCT116 after 2 days infection. However, GFP expressing SKOV3 cells by adenovirus infection were not found in all the experimental conditions tested. For quantitative analysis of GFP expression of cells by adenovirus infection, we carried out FACS analysis. As a result, GFP was expressed at very low levels at 1moi in all cells used in this experiment. GFP expression slightly increased after increasing moi to 10 in HepG2, HCT116, and A549 cells. By 100moi infection of adenovirus, GFP expression was elevated to 10 fold higher than 10moi in HepG2 and A549 and about 4 fold elevation was observed in HCT116. A549 showed 20 fold higher expression of GFP than SKOV3. We also found that GFP expression by adenovirus infection was the highest in HepG2 cells. Protein expression was enhanced by increasing concentrations or time of adenovirus infection. In these results, GFP expression efficiency of adenoviral gene transduction reveals the highest in HepG2 and lowest in SKOV3 among the cells tested. Taken together, we could confirm that intracellular protein expression efficiency by transduction of extracellular gene was different in various human cells. Our study suggests that the cell types and cellular properties should be carefully examined to enhance expression efficiency of extracelluar molecules in biological research and disease therapy

In this study, the in vitro fermentation parameters of whole crop barley (WCBS-TMR) and Italian ryegrass (IRGS-TMR) silage total mixed rations were compared. A rice straw based diet (RSBD), which was a mixture of rice straw and concentrate (60:40), was used as the control. The feeds were incubated in buffered rumen fluid for 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours at 39°C. At the end of each incubation period the following parameters were determined, total gas, pH, ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), volatile fatty acids (VFA) and then the acetate to propionate ratio (A/P) was calculated. The dietary treatments did not affect (p>0.05) the overall production of NH3-N, gas, total VFA and all the individual VFA, with the exception of n-butyrate (p<0.001). The treatment diets significantly affected the A/P ratio (p<0.01). The control diet resulted in the lowest A/P ratios, followed by WCBS-TMR and lastly IRGS-TMR had the highest ratios. Gas production was not different between treatments, suggesting a probable similar level of digestibility when treatments are fed to animals. It can therefore be concluded from the present study that WCBS and IRGS are of almost an equivalent nutritional value when incubated in a TMR form. WCBS-TMR however resulted in lower A/P ratios than IRGS-TMR, which is indicative of a more energy efficient diet.

Human umbilical cord is easy to obtain because it is discarded after birth, so that ethical issues can be avoided. Chondrogenesis studies using MSCs from bone marrow, cord blood, and adipose have indicated that TGFβ3 and BMP6 stimulate chondrogenesis. Therefore, we investigated chondrogenesis of hUC-MSCs on TGFβ3, BMP6, and combination of the two growth factors. We initiated chondrogenesis of cells by application of physical forces to form 3D cell clusters. After initiation, we designated four experimental groups for differentiation of cells, as follows: control, 10 ng/mL TGFβ3, 100 ng/mL BMP6, and the combination of 5 ng/mL TGFβ3 and 50 ng/mL BMP6. For analysis of chondrogenesis, GAG contents, mRNA expression, histological analysis and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were performed. For analysis of GAG contents, GAG assay was performed and RT-PCR was performed for determination of chondrogenic markers. Histological analysis was performed through safranin O, alcian blue, and IHC was performed using collagen type I and II. GAG contents were increased 184% by TGFβ3, 147% by BMP6, and 189% by the combination of TGFβ3 and BMP6, compared to control. The growth factors improved collagen II and aggrecan expression; in particular, TGFβ3 and BMP6 showed a synergistic effect, compared to only TGFβ3 or BMP6 treated. The results of histological and IHC analysis indicated that chondrogenic differentiation in TGFβ3 and the combination of TGFβ3 and BMP6 showed more cartilage deposition. In conclusion, TGFβ3 and BMP6 differentiated hUC-MSCs into chondrogenic clusters of the combination treatment of the two growth factors showed more efficient chondrogenic ability.

The present study was to assess the in vitro viability and sexing rate of bovine embryos. Blastocysts were harvested on day 7～9 day after insemination(in vitro and in vivo), and the sex of the embryos was examined using the LAMP method. Embryo cell biopsy was carried out in a 80 μl drop Ca2+, Mg2+ free D-PBS and, biopsied embryos viability were evaluated after more 12 h culture in IVMD culture medium. The formation of recovered embryo to expanded and hatching stages had ensued in higher of sexed embryo in vivo than in vitro (100% vs. 89%, p<0.05), and in vitro, the rates of degeneration after sexing were significantly (p<0.05) higher in vitro than in vivo(11% vs. 0.0%). The rates of the predicted sex were female 61% vs. 56%, and male 39% vs. 44% in vivo and in vitro, respectively. The rates of survival following different biopsy methods were seen between punching and bisection method in vivo and in vitro (100% vs. 89% and 100% vs, 78% respectively). Biopsy method by punching was significantly (p<0.05) higher than bisection between produced embryos in vivo and in vitro. The present data indicate that with microblade after punching for embryo sexing results in high incidence of survivability on development after embryo biopsy. It is also suggested that LAMP-based embryo sexing suitable for field applications.