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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on April 10, 2006
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/del099
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received December 22, 2005
Revised March 7, 2006
Accepted March 14, 2006

Article

Retinoids during the in vitro transition from bovine morula to blastocyst

A. Rodríguez 1, C. Diez 1, S. Ikeda 1, L.J. Royo 1, J.N. Caamaño 1, C. Alonso-Montes 1, F. Goyache 1, I. Alvarez 1, N. Facal 1, and Enrique Gomez 1 *

1 Genética y Reproducción, SERIDA, Gijón, Asturias, Spain

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Enrique Gomez, E-mail: egomez{at}serida.org


  Abstract

BACKGROUND: The conversion of retinol (ROH) to retinoic acid (RA) is crucial during development but has been not studied during blastocyst formation. METHODS AND RESULTS: In vitro-produced bovine morulae were treated for 24 h with citral (which inhibits the synthesis of RA from ROH), citral + all trans retinoic acid (ATRA), ATRA or no additives. Citral interfered with blastocyst development, whereas exogenous RA had no effect. RA, however, reversed the effect of citral on development and stimulated cell proliferation. Neither citral nor RA changed the apoptotic index, but RA triggered an increase in the apoptotic frequency of the inner cell mass. Citral and RA reduced the necrotic index. Na/K-ATPase {alpha}1-subunit mRNA concentrations (analysed by real-time PCR) increased after hatching and showed dependence on retinoid activity, but no evidence was found of any retinoid effect on p53 expression. Nevertheless, the p53 mRNA concentration increased in response to proliferation in hatched blastocysts. CONCLUSION: The preimplantation bovine embryo metabolizes endogenous ROH to RA, which participates in important cell processes. The true extent of the influence of RA is unknown, although the modulation of retinoid metabolism seems to be a means of increasing cell proliferation. This knowledge might be used to improve embryo quality and the efficiency of stem cell derivation.

Keywords: apoptosis/cell culture/embryo development/embryo quality/gene expression.
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