The mRNA expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in oocytes and embryos and its effects on the development of early embryos in cattle
K.L. Yi,
X. Zhou,
D.S. Shi,
H.H. Chen,
Q.L. Qin,
Y. Chen,
C.J. Li,
Z.H. Zhao,
S.Y. Xing
Affiliations
K.L. Yi
College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, and Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, Jilin University, 5333 Xi’an Road, Changchun 130062, PR China
X. Zhou
College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, and Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, Jilin University, 5333 Xi’an Road, Changchun 130062, PR China
D.S. Shi
Animal Reproduction Institute, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, 530005, PR China
H.H. Chen
Animal Reproduction Institute, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, 530005, PR China
Q.L. Qin
Animal Reproduction Institute, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, 530005, PR China
Y. Chen
Animal Reproduction Institute, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, 530005, PR China
C.J. Li
College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, and Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, Jilin University, 5333 Xi’an Road, Changchun 130062, PR China
Z.H. Zhao
College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, and Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, Jilin University, 5333 Xi’an Road, Changchun 130062, PR China
S.Y. Xing
College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, and Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, Jilin University, 5333 Xi’an Road, Changchun 130062, PR China
The aims of the study were to measure the mRNA expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in bovine oocytes and early embryos derived from in vitro fertilization (IVF), parthenogenetic activation (PA) and nuclear transfer (NT), and to investigate the effects of BDNF on the development of IVF and parthenogenetic embryos. Bovine oocytes matured in vitro for 22 h were in vitro fertilized or parthenogenetic activated. By reverse transcription-PCR and quantitative real-time PCR, we found that germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes, metaphase II (MII) oocytes, 4-cell and 8-cell embryos, morulae, and blastocysts were all shown to express mRNA for BDNF. The mRNA levels for BDNF gene were different in bovine oocytes and IVF embryos at different stages (P 0.05) after IVF or PA. We have also investigated the effects of BDNF on the growth of granulosa cells, which were used for co-culture of bovine early embryos. The results revealed that supplementation of culture media with 20 μg/l BDNF promoted the growth of granulosa cells (P < 0.01). Taken together, these results provided evidence for the role of neurotrophins in promoting early embryonic development as well as in the growth of granulosa cells by the co-culture system, indicating that BDNF can directly or indirectly promote bovine early embryo development.
