Cell arrest and cell death in mammalian preimplantation development: lessons from the bovine model.

BACKGROUND: The causes, modes, biological role and prospective significance of cell death in preimplantation development in humans and other mammals are still poorly understood. Early bovine embryos represent a very attractive experimental model for the investigation of this fundamental and important issue. METHODS AND FINDINGS: To obtain reference data on the temporal and spatial occurrence of cell death in early bovine embryogenesis, three-dimensionally preserved embryos of different ages and stages of development up to hatched blastocysts were examined in toto by confocal laser scanning microscopy. In parallel, transcript abundance profiles for selected apoptosis-related genes were analyzed by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Our study documents that in vitro as well as in vivo, the first four cleavage cycles are prone to a high failure rate including different types of permanent cell cycle arrest and subsequent non-apoptotic blastomere death. In vitro produced and in vivo derived blastocysts showed a significant incidence of cell death in the inner cell mass (ICM), but only in part with morphological features of apoptosis. Importantly, transcripts for CASP3, CASP9, CASP8 and FAS/FASLG were not detectable or found at very low abundances. CONCLUSIONS: In vitro and in vivo, errors and failures of the first and the next three cleavage divisions frequently cause immediate embryo death or lead to aberrant subsequent development, and are the main source of developmental heterogeneity. A substantial occurrence of cell death in the ICM even in fast developing blastocysts strongly suggests a regular developmentally controlled elimination of cells, while the nature and mechanisms of ICM cell death are unclear. Morphological findings as well as transcript levels measured for important apoptosis-related genes are in conflict with the view that classical caspase-mediated apoptosis is the major cause of cell death in early bovine development.

Highly sensitive saturation labeling reveals changes in abundance of cell cycle-associated proteins and redox enzyme variants during oocyte maturation in vitro.

Oocyte maturation is a complex process and a critical issue in assisted reproduction techniques (ART) in humans and other mammals. We used a sensitive 2-D DIGE saturation labeling approach including an internal pooled standard for quantitative proteome profiling of immature versus in vitro matured bovine oocytes in six independent samples. The study comprised 48 2D gel images representing 24 DIGE experiments. From 250 ng sample analyzed per gel, quantitative analysis revealed an average of 2244 spots in pH 4-7 images and 1291 spots in pH 6-9 images. Thirty-eight spots with different intensities were detected in total. Spots of a preparative gel from 2200 oocytes were identified by nano-LC-MS/MS analysis. The ten spots which could be unambiguously identified include the Ca2+-binding protein translationally controlled tumor protein, enzymes of the Krebs and pentose phosphate cycles, clusterin, 14-3-3 epsilon, elongation factor-1 gamma, and redox enzymes such as polymorphic forms of GST Mu 5 and peroxiredoxin-3. The cellular distribution of two proteins was determined by confocal laser scanning microscopy. The interesting protein candidates identified by this study may help to improve the in vitro maturation process in order to increase the rate of successful in vitro fertilization and other ART in cattle and other mammals.