355 IMPROVEMENT OF CUMULUS-FREE IN VITRO MATURATION AND ITS APPLICATION TO MICROINSEMINATION WITH PRIMARY SPERMATOCYTES IN MICE

Abstract

Manipulation of immature oocytes requires removal of cumulus cells, which may compromise ooplasmic maturation. This problem can be overcome by cytoplasm exchange at the MII stage, but this requires a second micromanipulative step. This study was undertaken to determine whether cumulus-free IVM can be improved by modifying IVM medium. We assessed the quality of oocytes by several cytochemical parameters, and by the subsequent development of embryos constructed by IVF, parthenogenetic activation, or microinsemination using primary spermatocytes. GV-stage oocytes were collected from superovulated B6D2F1 females. After freeing the oocytes from cumulus cells, they were subjected to IVM in either �MEM or TYH media, or a 1:1 mixture of the two (termed TaM). IVM was performed under chemically semidefined conditions by using BSA as the only protein source. Oocytes that reached the MII stage were analyzed for distribution of mitochondria, activity of the catalytic p34cdc2 kinase subunit of the maturation promoting factor (MPF), and chromosomal alignment within the MII spindle. Microinsemination with primary spermatocytes was performed in oocytes at the MI stage as described previously (Ogura et al. 1998 PNAS 95, 5611-5615), but without MII chromosome exchange. TYH and �MEM media had opposing effects on several parameters. TYH resulted in a better maturation rate (181/196, 92.3%) than �MEM (184/257, 71.6%). In contrast, �MEM supported better embryo development to the morula/blastocyst stage than TYH following IVF (93.3% vs. 76.5%) or parthenogenetic activation (82.4% vs. 60.4%). Mitochondrial distribution in MII oocytes was diffuse in �MEM, but aggregated in TYH. MPF activity in MII oocytes was significantly higher in TYH than in �MEM (P < 0.05). Oocytes derived from TaM had intermediate characteristics between TYH- and �MEM-oocytes and essentially resembled in vivo-matured oocytes, with the mitochondrial distribution pattern being most typically intermediate. By using TaM, 23.8% of GV oocytes developed into full-term fetuses following IVF and embryo transfer (compared to TYH: 6.3%, and �MEM: 18.2%). This IVM system was then applied to oocytes to be injected with spermatocytes when in the MI stage. Approximately 60% of the oocytes survived injection. After 127 two-cell embryos were transfered, two normal-looking offspring were obtained. This is the first successful birth of pups derived from fertilization with spermatocytes by single injection, without serial nuclear transfer. Chromosomal analysis at MII revealed that the low developmental efficiency after embryo transfer could be attributed mainly to premature sister chromatid separation, as reported previously (Ogura et al. 1998). These results demonstrate that optimization of IVM media can improve the quality of cumulus-free IVM oocytes in mice, although it cannot overcome defects in the kinetics of injected spermatocyte chromosomes.