Study of maternal-embryonic communication in the bovine oviduct using an in vitro co-culture system

GARCIA, EV; HAMDI, M; BARRERA, AD; SANCHEZ, M; GUTIÉRREZ ADÁN, A; RIZOS, D

Tafí del Valle

Jornada; XXXIII Jornadas Científicas de la Asociación de Biología de Tucumán (ABT).; 2016

Asociación de Biología de Tucuman

During the preimplantation period, maternal-embryo communication plays a critical role in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Considering that the oviduct provides the first microenvironment that takes contact with the embryo, this study aimed to: 1) establish an in vitro model to evaluate the interaction of the oviduct with the embryo in early stages of development, 2) evaluate the effect of this system on embryonic development and 3) identify genes whose expression varies during embryo-oviduct interaction. Primary cell cultures of epithelial cells obtained from the isthmus region of postovulatory oviducts, were cultured in SOF+5% fetal calf serum (FCS) in the presence or absence of embryos from 2-cell to 8-cell stage and from 8-cell to 16-cell stage. As control, embryos were cultured in the absence of oviductal cells in medium SOF+5% FBS and SOF+3 mg/mL BSA. At the end of the co-culture period, embryos were transferred to medium SOF+BSA and cultured until day 9. In all experimental groups, different parameters of embryonic development were evaluated and the expression of candidate genes was evaluated by qPCR in oviductal cells and embryos. The co-culture system established did not affect the developmental rate to the blastocyst stage. Embryo-oviduct interaction in the two periods analyzed produced an increase in the expression levels of BMP signaling genes in the embryos and reduced them in the oviductal cells. This in vitro co-culture model provides a new strategy for studying embryo-oviduct interaction and provides new evidence of potential signaling pathways involved in this early cross-talk during the preimplantation period.