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Haraguchi S, Dang-Nguyen TQ, Kikuchi K, Somfai T. Electroporation-mediated genome editing in vitrified/warmed porcine zygotes obtained in vitro. Mol Reprod Dev 2024; 91:e23712. [PMID: 37882473 DOI: 10.1002/mrd.23712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023]
Abstract
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated 9 (Cas9) system is the most efficient and widely used technology for genome editing in all sorts of organisms, including livestock animals. Here, we examined the feasibility of CRISPR/Cas9-derived genome editing (GE) in vitrified porcine zygotes, where the flexible planning of experiments in time and space is expected. OCT4 and CD46 genes were targeted, and the Cas9/sgRNA ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNP) were electroporated into zygotes at 2 h after warming. Vitrification or GE alone did not significantly reduce the developmental rates to the blastocyst stage. However, vitrification followed by GE significantly reduced blastocyst development. Sequencing analysis of the resultant blastocysts revealed efficient GE for both OCT4 (nonvitrified: 91.0%, vitrified: 95.1%) and CD46 (nonvitrified: 94.5%, vitrified: 93.2%), with no significant difference among them. Immunocytochemical analysis showed that GE-blastocysts lacked detectable proteins. They were smaller in size, and the cell numbers were significantly reduced compared with the control (p < 0.01). Finally, we demonstrated that double GE efficiently occurs (100%) when the OCT4-RNP and CD46-RNP are simultaneously introduced into zygotes after vitrification/warming. This is the first demonstration that vitrified porcine zygotes can be used in GE as efficiently as nonvitrified ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seiki Haraguchi
- Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Thanh Q Dang-Nguyen
- Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Kazuhiro Kikuchi
- Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Tamás Somfai
- Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
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Somfai T, Haraguchi S, Dang-Nguyen TQ, Kaneko H, Kikuchi K. Vitrification of porcine immature oocytes and zygotes results in different levels of DNA damage which reflects developmental competence to the blastocyst stage. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0282959. [PMID: 36930621 PMCID: PMC10022796 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The present study investigated the effects of vitrification of porcine oocytes either at the immature Germinal Vesicle (GV) stage before in vitro maturation (GV-stage oocytes) or at the pronuclear stage after in vitro maturation and fertilization (zygotes) on DNA integrity in relevance with their subsequent embryo development. Vitrification at the GV stage but not at the pronuclear stage significantly increased the abundance of double-strand breaks (DSBs) in the DNA measured by the relative fluorescence after γH2AX immunostaining. Treatment of GV-stage oocytes with cryoprotectant agents alone had no effect on DSB levels. When oocytes were vitrified at the GV stage and subjected to in vitro maturation and fertilization (Day 0) and embryo culture, significantly increased DSB levels were detected in subsequent cleavage-stage embryos which were associated with low cell numbers on Day 2, the upregulation of the RAD51 gene at the 4-8 cell stage (measured by RT-qPCR) and reduced developmental ability to the blastocyst stage when compared with the non-vitrified control. However, total cell numbers and percentages of apoptotic cells (measured by TUNEL) in resultant blastocysts were not different from those of the non-vitrified control. On the other hand, vitrification of zygotes had no effect on DSB levels and the expression of DNA-repair genes in resultant embryos, and their development did not differ from that of the non-vitrified control. These results indicate that during vitrification GV-stage oocytes are more susceptible to DNA damages than zygotes, which affects their subsequent development to the blastocyst stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamás Somfai
- Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
- * E-mail:
| | - Seiki Haraguchi
- Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Thanh Quang Dang-Nguyen
- Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Kaneko
- Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Kazuhiro Kikuchi
- Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
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Somfai T, Ogata K, Takeda K, Hirao Y. Bulk vitrification of in vitro produced bovine zygotes without reducing developmental competence to the blastocyst stage. Cryobiology 2022; 106:32-38. [PMID: 35523314 DOI: 10.1016/j.cryobiol.2022.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Cryopreservation of mammalian zygotes can be advantageous since it enables their flexile use in time and space for alternative purposes such as genome editing. Here we report a simple, quick and inexpensive vitrification protocol for in vitro produced bovine zygotes which enables their bulk preservation. Slaughterhouse-derived oocytes were subjected to in vitro maturation and fertilization (IVF). Ten h after IVF, cumulus-enclosed zygotes were equilibrated in 2% (v/v) ethylene glycol + 2% (v/v) propylene glycol for 13-15 min then vitrified in groups of 52-100 in 2 μL microdrops of 17.5% (v/v) ethylene glycol + 17.5% (v/v) propylene glycol supplemented with 0.3 M sucrose and 50 mg/mL polyvinylpyrrolidone. The presence of cumulus cells is important for the success of the process. Therefore, we applied a modified IVF protocol using a short (30 min) co-incubation interval which allowed zygote culture with attached cumulus cells until vitrification and even reduced polyspermy rates without affecting the total fertilization rate. Vitrified zygotes were similar to their non-vitrified counterparts in terms of survival, post-warming development to the blastocyst stage and blastocyst quality measured by cell numbers and cryo-survival. In conclusion, our vitrification protocol integrated with the modified IVF system enabled the quick cryopreservation of bovine zygotes in large groups without reducing their developmental competence to the blastocyst stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamás Somfai
- Division of Dairy Cattle Feeding and Breeding Research, Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0901, Japan.
| | - Kazuko Ogata
- Division of Dairy Cattle Feeding and Breeding Research, Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0901, Japan
| | - Kumiko Takeda
- Division of Dairy Cattle Feeding and Breeding Research, Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0901, Japan
| | - Yuji Hirao
- Division of Dairy Cattle Feeding and Breeding Research, Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0901, Japan
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Somfai T, Kikuchi K. Vitrification of Porcine Oocytes and Zygotes in Microdrops on a Solid Metal Surface or Liquid Nitrogen. Methods Mol Biol 2021; 2180:455-468. [PMID: 32797427 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0783-1_21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Oocyte cryopreservation is a potent approach to keep female germplasm safe from epidemic diseases. In the last decade, we developed simple, cheap, and robust vitrification protocols which enable quick cryopreservation of immature porcine oocytes and zygotes in large numbers. In this chapter, we describe vitrification procedures for porcine oocytes and zygotes where they are vitrified in 1-2 μL aliquots of a defined (protein-free) vitrification medium and dropped either on a metal surface pre-cooled from the bottom with liquid nitrogen (solid surface vitrification) or directly into liquid nitrogen. Vitrified microdrops can be stored in cryo-vials in liquid nitrogen. Low concentrations of permeating cryoprotectants during equilibration and proper temperatures during equilibration and warming are crucial for achieving high survival rates. The device used for cooling does not seem to affect system efficacy as vitrification of oocytes or zygotes either on Cryotop® sheets or in microdrops were equally effective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamas Somfai
- Animal Breeding and Reproduction Research Division, Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
| | - Kazuhiro Kikuchi
- Division of Animal Sciences, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, NARO, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
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Nguyen VK, Vu HTT, Nguyen HT, Quan HX, Pham LD, Kikuchi K, Nguyen ST, Somfai T. Comparison of the microdrop and minimum volume cooling methods for vitrification of porcine in vitro-produced zygotes and blastocysts after equilibration in low concentrations of cryoprotectant agents. J Reprod Dev 2018; 64:457-462. [PMID: 30101829 PMCID: PMC6189571 DOI: 10.1262/jrd.2018-047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
We compared the efficacy of the microdrop and minimum volume cooling (MVC) methods for the vitrification of in vitro-produced porcine zygotes and blastocysts after
equilibration in low concentrations of cryoprotectant agents. Zygotes and blastocysts were equilibrated in 2% (v/v) ethylene glycol and 2% (v/v) propylene glycol for 13–15 min. Then, they
were vitrified in a medium comprised of 17.5% ethylene glycol, 17.5% propylene glycol, 0.3 M sucrose, and 50 mg/ml polyvinylpyrrolidone either by either dropping them directly into liquid
nitrogen (microdrop method) or placing them on Cryotop sheets in a minimum volume of medium and plunging into liquid nitrogen (MVC method). Both zygotes and blastocysts were successfully
vitrified. For the vitrification of zygotes, the MVC and microdrop methods were equally effective; however, for blastocyst vitrification, MVC was superior. For both methods, the
vitrification of zygotes produced higher-quality embryos than the vitrification of blastocysts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Van Khanh Nguyen
- Key Lab of Animal Cell Biotechnology, National Institute of Animal Science, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Huong Thi Thu Vu
- Key Lab of Animal Cell Biotechnology, National Institute of Animal Science, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Huong Thi Nguyen
- Key Lab of Animal Cell Biotechnology, National Institute of Animal Science, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Huu Xuan Quan
- Key Lab of Animal Cell Biotechnology, National Institute of Animal Science, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Lan Doan Pham
- Key Lab of Animal Cell Biotechnology, National Institute of Animal Science, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Kazuhiro Kikuchi
- Division of Animal Sciences, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Ibaraki 305-8602, Japan.,The United Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan
| | - Son Thanh Nguyen
- Key Lab of Animal Cell Biotechnology, National Institute of Animal Science, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Tamas Somfai
- Animal Breeding and Reproduction Research Division, Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, NARO, Ibaraki 305-0901, Japan
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