Effects of co-culture on in vitro development of parthenogenetic embryos in mice

Objective To study the effect of co-culture of tubal epithelial cells on the development of parthenogenetic embryos in vitro. Methods Rabbit oviduct epithelial cells were collected by trypsin and cultured at 37 ℃ and 5%CO2. Six to eight weeks age of kunming white female mice were controlled ovarian hyperstimulation. Mature oocytes were parthenogenetic activated by 7% ethanol and 5 mg/L cytochalasin B. Parthenogenetic activated eggs were cultured in the control group (simple culture), and the experimental group (rabbit oviduct epithelial cells P0 and P1, P2, P3, P4 co-culture system). After 1-5 d, the mice parthenogenetic embryos to 2-cell, 4-cell, 8-cell and the blastocyst were observed. Results Compared with the control group, the parthenogenetic activated eggs of mice were co-cultured with primary P0 and pass-through P1, P2 and P3 rabbit oviduct epithelial cells, and there was no significant difference in the formation rate of 2-cell and 4-cell (P>0.05). The 8-cell formation rate was significantly increased (57.5% vs. 80.2%, 85.0%, 81.8% vs. 76.8%, χ2=14.389, 23.803, 17.319, 10.078, P<0.01). Blastocyst formation rate increased significantly (34.5% vs. 57.9%, 62.9%, 58.3%, 50.4%, χ2=13.126, 20.094, 13.857, 6.116, P<0.05). Conclusion Co-culture of oviduct epithelial cells can obviously improve the development potential of parthenogenetic embryos in vitro. Key words: Parthenogenetic embryos; Co-culture; Blastocyst rate