The Improvement of Porcine In Vitro Embryo Development through Regulating Autophagy by miRNA-143 Inhibition.

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe improvement of in vitro embryo development is an important factor for the advancement of reproductive technology. Recently, studying microRNA related to early embryos is a strategic approach. This research applies miR-143 (mimics and inhibitors) to the porcine parthenogenetically activated embryos. Interesting results are revealed in this study: the miR-143 inhibitor improves the embryo development to the blastocyst. In addition, our research reveals the enhancement of autophagy and ER-phagy associated markers with higher levels of gene expression.In vitro embryo research is an important stage for the advancement of many reproductive technologies in research and agriculture. For this reason, the improvement of in vitro embryo development is a strategic field worthy of investigation. Relatively little is known about miR-143 and its effects on autophagy associated with embryo development and in vitro embryo culture. In this study, we examined the effect of miR-143 (via mimics and inhibitors) on embryonic development threatened by microinjection after parthenogenetic activation. We evaluated rates of cleavage, blastocyst, and total cell number of blastocyst; additionally, we performed LC3 immunofluorescence analysis and mRNA expression analyses of genes associated with autophagy, endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-phagy, ER stress, embryo quality, and apoptosis. The inhibition of miR-143 positively influenced embryo development by increasing the activity of autophagy and ER-phagy and the expression of embryo quality-related genes, while reducing apoptosis. In contrast, treatment with miR-143 mimics increased ER stress-related gene expression and apoptosis, and reduced embryo development. Together, our findings indicate that miR-143 plays a role in the interplay between autophagy, ER-phagy, and embryo quality during early porcine embryo development.