Abstract
Objective: Apoptosis during mouse blastocyst formation is a normal feature of development. However, suboptimal culture conditions may increase cell death by apoptosis, particularly in the ICM (Inner Cell Mass). It has been shown that insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and transforming growth factor-α(TGF-α) increase cell number and inhibit cell death of the ICM. Additionally, transcription factor Oct4 is essential for the development and maintenance of the ICM, because Oct4 mRNA and protein expression is restricted to the ICM at the blastocyst stage. This study investigated the effects of IGF-I and TGF-α on promoting the survival rate of the ICM and Oct4 gene expression in mouse blastocyst cultured from fresh and frozen-thawed 2-cell embryos.
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