Methods for activation of reconstructed oocytes were examined for the production of nuclear transfer (NT) rat embryos using fetal neural stem cells as donor. Neural stem cells were isolated from Day 14.5 rat fetuses, and the oocytes for recipient cytoplasm were recovered from 4-week old Sprague Dawley rats. After enucleation and nuclear injection, the reconstructed oocytes were immediately exposed to activation medium consisting of 10 mM SrCl₂ for 4 h (immediate activation after injection; IAI), or cultured in vitro for 2~3 h before activation treatment (injection before activation; IBA). Pre-activated oocytes were also used for NT to test reprogramming potential of artificially activated oocytes. The oocytes were grouped as IIA (immediate injection after activation) and ABI (activation 2~3 h before injection). Following NT, the oocytes were cultured in vitro. Development of the NT embryos was monitored at 44 and 119 h after activation. The embryos in groups IAI, mA, and IIA were cleaved to the 2-cell stage at the rates of 36.6%(15/41), 39.5% (17/43) and 46.3% (25/54), respectively. However, in the ABI group, only one embryo (1.8%, 1/55) was cleaved after activation. After in vitro culture, two NT embryos from IAI group had developed to the morula stage (4.9%, 2/41). However, no morula or blastocyst was obtained in the other groups. These results suggest that immediate activation after injection (IAI) method may be used for the production of rat somatic cell NT embryos.

The present study was performed to determine the ability of canine oocytes to achieve nuclear maturation according to oocyte diameter and different culture environments. All of the collected oocytes were classified by grade 1 to 3 and by their diameters such as <100㎛, <100㎛ to <110㎛, <110㎛ to <120㎛, >120㎛. Oocytes were cultured in culture medium supplemented with 10%FBS, 0.4%BSA,10% porcine follicular fluid (pFF), 10% canine serum (CS), or 10% canine estrus serum (CES). The mean number of oocytes recovered from estrus status ovaries was significantly higher than that of anestrus status ovaries (p<0.01). The maturation rate of grade 1 oocytes (>120㎛) was significantly higher than that of the other groups (p<0.05). Nuclear maturation to MI to MII in diameter of >110㎛ groups was significantly higher than that in <100㎛ group (p<0.05). The oocytes cultured in 10% FBS­supplemented group were significantly higher rate of GVBD compared to the other supplemented groups (p<0.05), and oocytes maturation to MI to MII in 10% FBS-, 0.4% BSA-, and 10% pFF-supplemented groups were significantly higher than those in 10% CS-supplemented group (p<0.05). Based on these results, the estrus status and the size of oocyte affect positively to improve nuclear maturation of canine immature oocytes in vitro. Among several protein sources, porcine follicular fluid was the most effective supplementation to culture medium to achieve higher in vitro maturation rate.

This study was conducted to establish the optimal temperature condition before oocyte activation in B6D2 F1 mouse. In experiment 1, two embryo culture media (CZB vs KSOM) were evaluated for the development of activated mouse oocytes. Parthenogenetic embryos cultured in KSOM showed better blastocyst development than ones cultured in CZB(56.2% vs 81.0%, p<0.01). Two-hour of pre-incubation before activation significantly reduced the number of hatched blastocysts in KSOM (22.0% versus 8.8%, p<0.05). In experiment 2, recovered oocytes were pre-incubated at different temperature conditions before activation. The experimental groups were divided by 5 as follows. Group A: pre-incubation for 120 min at 37℃, Group B: pre-incubation at 37℃ for 90 min then at 25℃ for 30 min, Group C: pre-incubation at 37℃ for 60 min then at 25℃ for 60 min, Group D: pre-incubation at 37℃ for 30 min then at 25℃ for 90 min, and Group E: pre-incubation at 25℃ for 120 min before activation. Group A (67.6%) and B (66.7%) showed better development to the blastocyst stage than other groups (Group C: 50.0%, Group D: 49.2%, Group E: 33.3%, p<0.05). The present study indicates that the temperature before activation affects the development of B6D2 F1 mouse parthenogenetic oocytes and exposure to room temperature should be limited to 30-min when the oocytes are left in HEPES-buffered medium for micromanipulation.