Development of Testes and Expression of Beta-catenin in Testes Tissue of Mice Born from Vitrified/Cryopreserved Embryos

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of vitrifying embryo from mice on the development of testes of offspring. Materials and methods: This study included 60 male offspring mice, 30 male mice from transferred vitrified embryos and 30 male mice from transferred fresh embryos. We tested the morphology and β-catenin gene expression of testes of difference time after they born. Results: The HE staining results of the testes of the vitrification group and the fresh group showed dark blue staining in the nuclei and varying degrees of red staining in the cytoplasm and fibrous tissue. And there were no significant differences in the morphology of the testis tissues at the different developmental stages between the two groups. With the use of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, the data showed that there were no significant differences in the expression of β-catenin in the testes between the two groups of mice at different developmental stages. Conclusion: These data suggest that vitrifying pre-implantation embryos may have no effects on morphology and β-catenin gene expression of the testes of offspring.