Abstract
The infusion of boar seminal plasma (SP) before artificial insemination (AI) positively alters the expression of endometrial genes and pathways involved in embryo development. This study aimed to determine which transcriptome changes occur in preimplantation embryos in response to SP infusions during estrus. Postweaning estrus sows received 40-mL intrauterine infusions of either SP (N = 6) or BTS extender (control group; N = 6) 30 min before each of two post-cervical AIs. On Day 6, embryos were surgically collected and analyzed for differential gene expression. Microarray analysis of embryos revealed 210 annotated genes, differentially expressed (p-value < 0.05 and fold change </> 2) in SP-blastocysts, compared to controls. Most of these genes were associated with biological, cellular, metabolic and developmental processes. The pathways enriched among the upregulated genes related to signal transduction, cellular processes and the endocrine system. Among altered genes involved in these pathways, the SP-group showed a conspicuous overexpression of ApoA-I, CDK1, MAPK1, SMAD2, PRKAA1 and RICTOR, with reported key roles in embryo development, implantation, or progression of pregnancy. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that SP infusions prior to AI upregulates the expression of embryo development related genes in Day 6 pig embryos.
Highlights
In addition to the well-known actions of seminal plasma (SP) on sperm transport and survival, its important roles in the female’ reproductive system and its influence on multiple reproductive processes had been studied [1,2,3].In the pig, the SP shortens the LH peak-to-ovulation interval [4], advancing ovulation [5], and supports luteal development and, the synthesis of progesterone [6]
These findings suggest that application of SP in embryo transfer (ET)-protocols could increase ET-outcomes by increasing the number of embryos succeeding during the crucial implantation window
Such a statement is based on the confirmation of previous findings [18,19,21], indicating that the effects of SP remain influential over time
Summary
In addition to the well-known actions of seminal plasma (SP) on sperm transport and survival, its important roles in the female’ reproductive system and its influence on multiple reproductive processes had been studied [1,2,3].In the pig, the SP shortens the LH peak-to-ovulation interval [4], advancing ovulation [5], and supports luteal development and, the synthesis of progesterone [6]. SP infusions at estrus support pre-implantation embryonic development and implantation [9], by likely modifying the release of cytokines that support embryonic development, and by inducing the expression of factors associated with angiogenesis and chorionic attachment [10]. For all the above-mentioned reasons, a reproductive technology that could benefit from the effects of SP is somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Both SP-enrichment of media for culture of porcine SCNT embryos and/or SP intra-uterine infusion of recipients prior to intra-oviductal transfer of SCNT embryos appear attractive options since SP-factors can enhance their pre- and post-implantation developmental outcome. SP-factors can improve the cytological and molecular qualities of SCNT-embryos to levels found in other livestock species; as the relatively low capability of donor cell nuclear genome to be epigenetically reprogrammed, the impairments in intergenomic communication between nuclear and mitochondrial DNA fractions in SCNT-derived oocytes and resultant embryos, and the increased incidence of programmed cell death in the ex vivo expanded nuclear donor cells, and the corresponding cloned embryos [11,12,13,14,15]
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