Role of astaxanthin as an efficient antioxidant on the in vitro maturation and vitrification of porcine oocytes

As one of the most powerful natural antioxidants, astaxanthin (Ax) has begun to be applied to the field of reproductive biology. Here we used porcine oocyte as a model to explore how Ax improves the oocyte potential during in vitro maturation (IVM), and we also investigated the cytoprotective effects of Ax on the vitrified oocytes. Ax supplementation (final concentration of 2.5 μM) was subjected for immature oocytes during vitrification and subsequent IVM; fresh oocytes were also matured in vitro in the presence or absence of 2.5 μM Ax. Our results showed that Ax significantly increased the survival rate of vitrified oocytes, and promoted the blastocyst yield of both fresh and vitrified oocytes after parthenogenetic activation and somatic cell nuclear transfer. The oocytes treated with Ax displayed significantly lower reactive oxygen species generation and higher glutathione level. Vitrification of oocytes had no impact on caspase-3, cathepsin B and autophagic activities; Ax significantly decreased the cathepsin B activity in both fresh and vitrified oocytes. Moreover, the relative fluorescence intensity of lysosomes was significantly increased in vitrified oocytes, which was recovered by Ax treatment. The mitochondrial activity did not differ between fresh and vitrified oocytes, and was significantly enhanced in Ax-treated oocytes. Furthermore, Ax significantly restored the decreased expression of BMP15, ZAR1, POU5F1, GPX4 and LAMP2 genes in vitrified oocytes. Both fresh and vitrified oocytes treated with Ax showed significantly higher mRNA levels of GDF9, POU5F1, SOD2, NRF2 and ATG5. Taken together, this study provides new perspectives in understanding the mechanisms by which Ax improves the developmental competence of both fresh and vitrified porcine oocytes.

Quality of vitrified porcine immature oocytes is improved by coculture with fresh oocytes during in vitro maturation

It is essential to enhance the in vitro maturation (IVM) condition for immature oocytes after cryopreservation, particularly if limited numbers of oocytes collected from specific donors. The objective of this study was to determine if quality of vitrified porcine immature oocytes was enhanced by coculturing with fresh oocytes during IVM. To distinguish fresh versus vitrified oocytes, we used two types of coculture systems: (a) transwell two-chamber coculture; (b) labeling and tracing fresh oocytes with CellTracker™ Green CMFDA during conventional culture. Coculture systems significantly accelerated meiotic progression of vitrified oocytes and significantly increased blastocyst formation rates following parthenogenetic activation and somatic cell nuclear transfer. Reactive oxygen species generation in vitrified oocytes was ameliorated by the coculture conditions, with no significant difference between fresh and vitrified oocytes for intracellular glutathione level. Both coculture systems significantly increased rate of normal mitochondrial distribution in vitrified oocytes, but did not affect fluorescence intensity of mitochondria. The percentage of oocytes with normal endoplasmic reticulum (ER) distribution and ER fluorescence intensity were significantly higher in vitrified oocytes cocultured with fresh oocytes. After 20 hr of IVM, mRNA expression of COX2, HAS2, PTX3, and TNFAIP6 remained significantly higher in cumulus cells derived from vitrified oocytes and coculture systems significantly decreased the expression of these genes. Additionally, coculture methods prevented the reduction of mRNA expression for BMP15, ZAR1, POU5F1, and DNMT3A in vitrified oocytes. In conclusion, oocyte quality and subsequent embryo development of vitrified porcine immature oocytes were significantly improved by fresh oocyte coculture during IVM.

The effects of 1,4-cyclohexanediol on frozen ram spermatozoa

In order to improve the quality of frozen spermatozoa of Yunnan semi-fine wool sheep, 1, 4-cyclohexanediol (1, 4-CHD) as a synthetic ice blocker was used for cryopreservation of ram spermatozoa in this study. Briefly, following collection by electric stimulation, equilibration at 5℃ following dilution with the freezing extender, and pre-freezing in liquid nitrogen vapor, the ram spermatozoa were preserved in liquid nitrogen for one month. In addition, the effects of osmolarity of the diluting extenders used for evaluation of frozen spermatozoa quality were also assessed. The results indicated addition of 1, 4-CHD could not increase the motility of ram spermatozoa after cryopreservation and thawing. With the elevation of the concentrations of 1, 4-CHD, the motility and moving velocity of frozen ram spermatozoa showed a steady decrease. Additionally, the presence of 1, 4-CHD cannot increase the percentage of frozen spermatozoa with intact acrosome and membrane. When the isotonic binding buffer was used to dilute the thawed spermatozoa, the percentage of cells labeled with propidium iodide (PI) after cryopreservation in the presence of 1, 4-CHD was significantly higher than that of spermatozoa frozen in the absence of 1, 4-CHD (P < 0.05). However, the percentage of frozen-thawed spermatozoa with exposed PS in the presence of 1, 4-CHD was significantly less than that of spermatozoa frozen in the absence of 1, 4-CHD (P < 0.01). When the basic extenders with an osmolarity of 404mOsm, 528mOsm, 648mOsm, or 853mOsm were used to dilute the frozen-thawed spermatozoa respectively, there is no significant difference between the four groups with respect to the moving velocity and membrane integrity (P > 0.05). In conclusion, the presence of 1, 4-CHD cannot improve the motility, moving velocity, acrosome staus, and membrane integrity of frozen ram spermatozoa. However, 1, 4-CHD may inhibit apoptosis caused by freezing and thawing.

[Healing effect of lyophilized platelets on rat chronic wound model]

Platelets carry over 20 growth factors, which all have been shown to improve wound healing, particularly recalcitrant wound healing. The aim of this study was to investigate the healing effect of lyophilized platelets on the chronic wounds through establishing diabetic rat chronic wound model. Healthy male SD rats were intraperitoneally injected with streptozotocin (STZ) solution at the dose of 65 mg/kg. The blood glucose and weights were observed every week. The re-epithelialization rates of normal control group (NDR), diabetic group (DR) and diabetic treatment group (TLP) was analysed. Two full thickness skin wounds were incised in the back of the rats. The re-epithelialization rates were observed at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 12 days. The results showed that after induced by streptozotocin for 72 hours, the blood glucose of the DR group was higher than 16.7 mmol/L. 1 week after induced by STZ, the weight of the DR group was significant lighter than that of the NDR group (p < 0.05). The re-epithelialization rate of DR group were lower than that of NDR. After 12 day treatment, the re-epithelialization rates of NDR and TLP groups were 88.1% and 81.8%, which were significantly higher than that of DR group (62.8%). It is concluded that diabetic rat model established by the intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin can be used as a better diabetic chronic wound model. And the lyophilized platelets have healing effect on diabetic chronic wounds.

[Effects of loaded buffer with epigallocatechin gallate on physiological functions of platelets]

This study was aimed to explore the change of aggregation and activation of platelets loaded with epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). The platelets were treated by loading buffer with different concentrations of EGCG (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 20 and 30 mmol/L) and were divided into 2.5, 5, 10 mmol/L groups and control group. The physiological and biochemical functions of platelets were observed, including recovery rate, aggregation and activation of platelets. The platelet counts were determined by Counter Cell-DYN 1200. The aggregation activities were tested through turbidimetry, the platelet apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The results showed that the concentrations of EGCG loading in platelets of 2.5, 5 and 10 mmol/L groups were 0.4006 ± 0.12, 1.0527 ± 0.1503, 1.6902 ± 0.1112 mmol/L respectively. Along with the increasing of EGCG concentrations in loading-buffer, the EGCG absorbed by platelets increased too. When the concentration of EGCG in loading-buffer exceeded 15 mmol/L, the EGCG absorbed by platelets did not increase. The recovery rate in 2.5 mmol/L loading buffer group was 82.45 ± 0.360% which was lower than that in control group (90.33 ± 1.115%) (p < 0.05). As compared with control group, the recovery rate in 5 mmol/L loading buffer group (57.51 ± 2.468)% and 10 mmol/L loading buffer group (47.45 ± 2.030)% were even significantly lower (p < 0.01). When ADP was used as the inducer, the maximal aggregation rate (MAR) in control group was (63.6 ± 4.037)%, which was higher than that in other EGCG-loading groups (p < 0.01). And the aggregation activity of platelets negatively correlated with the concentration of EGCG in loading-buffer. When THR was used as the inducer, the MAR in control group was (89.3 ± 6.533)% and higher than that those in other groups (p < 0.05), especially in groups with loading-buffer higher than 10 mmol/L EGCG (70.1 ± 5.400%) (p < 0.01). In the experiment of cellular apoptosis, the early apoptosis easy appeared in platelets loaded with EGCG. It is concluded that the EGCG loading in platelets markedly influences the physiological and biochemical functions of platelets, the apoptosis easy occurs in platelets loaded with EGCG. The EGCG accelerates the course of platelet apoptosis.

Stability of lyophilized human platelets loaded with small molecule carbohydrates

Long-term preservation of platelets is a great challenge for blood transfusion centers, due to the required narrow storage temperature arange (22 ± 2 degree C). Short shelf life and potential bacterial growth often lead to the shortage of high-quality platelets. Freeze-dried preservation is thus believed to be a potential solution for long-term platelet storage without losing the hemostasis function. Here we report a new platelet preservation method, which uses small molecule carbohydrates to extend storage time and to maintain platelet function. The activities of lyophilized platelets that were stabilized with small molecule carbohydrate (e.g., cell viability, mean platelet volume, activation characteristics, and aggregation kinetics) were maintained after storage of 30, 60, and 90 days at room temperature, 4 degree C, and -20 degree C. The recovery of freeze-dried platelets was 87 percent in comparison to fresh platelets. The mean platelet volume of rehydrated platelets increased (from 6.8 fl to 8.0 fl). About 40 percent of rehydrated platelets was in the early-activated stage (PCA-1 positive) and 30 percent was in the terminal-activated stage (CD62P positive). The cell viability was about 60 percent as measured with CMFDA vital probes. The aggregation rate of rehydrated platelets after 90-day storage was similar to fresh platelets stored at 22 degree C ± 2 degree C.

[Inhibitory effect of trehalose on phosphatidylserine exposure, osmotic fragility and membrane lipid peroxidation damage of erythrocytes induced by high concentration of glucose]

Though high concentration of glucose can benefit the survival of lyophilized human red blood cells, the high concentration of glucose can result in serious damage of red blood cells. This study was aimed to investigate the inhibitory effect of trehalose on damage of red blood cells induced by high concentration of glucose. After incubation with the high concentration of glucose buffer containing different concentrations of trehalose for three hours at 37 degrees C, the phosphatidylserine exposure and the osmotic fragility of cells were analyzed by flow cytometry and the lipid peroxidation of membrane was evaluated by TBA method. The results showed that the high concentration of glucose could lead to phosphatidylserine exposure, osmotic fragility increase, and lipid peroxidation damage which were dependent on the glucose concentrations and incubation temperature. However, trehalose could effectively prevent the phosphatidylserine exposure, osmotic fragility increase, and lipid peroxidation damage induced by high concentration glucose. With increase of the trehalose concentrations. As the trehalose concentration increases, the phosphatidylserine exposure, maloni-aldehyde concentration and cell debris rate decreased gradually. In conclusion, the high concentration of glucose can lead to phosphatidylserine exposure, osmotic fragility increase, and lipid peroxidation damage of red blood cells. However, trehalose can inhibit the damaging effects of high concentration of glucose on red blood cells, which may be useful for the application of sugars to lyophilization of red blood cells.

[Mechanism of erythrocyte phosphatidylserine exposure induced by high concentrated glucose]

This study was aimed to investigate the mechanism of phosphatidylserine exposure of human erythrocytes induced by high concentrated glucose. After exposure to high concentrated glucose, the phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure and forward scatter value were analyzed by flow cytometry; the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-8 were detected; The inhibitory effect of leupeptin on cell PS exposure induced by high concentrated glucose was observed by flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy. The results showed that the high concentrated glucose could induce PS exposure of erythrocytes and this inducing efficiency was dependent on the glucose concentrations. With increase of the glucose concentrations, the percentages of cells with exposed PS also increased. When the glucose concentration was 0.8 mol/L, the PS exposure was over 80%. However, caspase-3 and caspase-8 were not activated during PS exposure of cells induced by high concentrated glucose, but leupeptin could significantly inhibit PS exposure and volume shrinkage induced by high concentrated glucose. With increase of the leupeptin concentrations, the percentage of cells with exposed PS decreased and the cell volume increased. It is concluded that the high concentrated glucose can result in serious PS exposure, which does not depend on caspase. It can be hypothesized that the PS exposure of erythrocytes induced by high concentrated glucose may be controlled by an unknown pathway sensitive to leupeptin.

[Stability of glycosylated platelets under cold storage]

This study was aimed to investigate the stability and in vitro function of glycosylated platelets concentrates after long-term refrigeration. The experiments were divided into 4 groups: group preserved at room temperature (RT group), group preserved at 4 degrees C (4T group), group glycosylated and preserved at 4 degrees C (U + 4 group) and group preserved at 4 degrees C and glycosylated (4 + U group). All groups followed for up to 14 days. The binding rate of RCA I lectin and expression of Plt surface markers CD62P, CD42b and Annexin V binding were determined by flow cytometry. pH and mean volume were determined by pH meter and hematotocytometer respectively. Platelet aggregation was detected by aggregometer. The results showed that during storage up to 14 days RCAI binding rate of modified groups was 5 - 6 fold of RT group. The pH of platelets suspension had no significant difference between these two groups (p > 0.05). Mean volumes of both groups (10.6 +/- 1.9 fL and 11.14 +/- 1.1 fL) were also no significant difference (p > 0.05). Furthermore, aggregation responsiveness of modified groups was better than that of RT groups (p < 0.05) although both decreased during the storage. The expression level of CD62P, CD42b and Annexin V binding during 5 days of storage had no significant difference between modified and fresh platelet groups (p > 0.05). While the expression level of CD62P and PS increased and the expression level of CD42b decreased during storage up to 14 days, there was significant difference between modified and fresh platelet groups (p < 0.01). It is concluded that the glycan modification is stable during storage up to 14 days. The glycosylated platelets retain in vitro function better than RT platelets during storage, but it shows activation to varying degrees in vitro after storage for 5 days.

[Ultrastructural and functional assessment on platelets loaded with small molecule carbohydrates]

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of loading some small molecule carbohydrates into human platelets on ultrastucture and function. The ultrastructure of platelets were observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM); the platelet counts and mean platelet volume (MPV) were measured by hemocytometer, the maximal platelet aggregation rate was measured optically in an aggregometer; the surface marker of platelet membranes CD62p and phosphatidyl serine were analyzed by flow cytometry. The results showed that no significant changes of the ultrastructure of platelets loaded with small molecule carbohydrates were seen. The aggregation responsiveness of platelets loaded with small molecule carbohydrates reached to 60% of the fresh control platelets. The values of platelet counts and MPV showed no significant differences. The expression level of CD62p and the binding rate with Annexin V before and after loading small molecule carbohydrates into platelets were no different. It is concluded that the platelets after loading with small molecule carbohydrates remained fine ultrastructure and function.

[Morphology, ultrastructure and function of glycosylation-modified chilled blood platelets]

The glycosylation of platelets may prolong their life-span when being transfused after preservation under 4 degrees C, therefore this study was aimed to investigate the effect of glycosylation on morphology, ultrastructure, function and membrane glycoprotein of platelets. The experiments were divided into 3 groups: group preserved in room temperature (RT group), group preserved in 4 degrees C (4T group) and group UDP-Gal glycosylated and preserved in 4 degrees C (U+4T group). The binding rate of RCA I lectin and expression of platelet surface markers CD62P, CD42b were determined by flow cytometry. Morphology and ultrastructure of platelets were observed by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Platelets aggregation was detected by aggregometer. The results showed that the binding rate of RCAI in U+4T group significantly higher than that in RT group (p<0.01), no obvious changes was found in ultrastructure of glycosylated platelets, as compared with fresh platelets. Some morphologic changes, such as pseudopodium could be observed in 4T group. The aggregation rate of platelets in U+4T group reached to 50% of RT group. The expression levels of CD42b and CD62P, and the binding rate of annexin V in U+4T group were not significantly different from that in RT group. It is concluded that UDP-Gal can effectively cause galactosylation of platelets, and the platelets modified with UDP-Gal remain normal morphology, ultrastructure and function.

Conventional freezing, straw, and open-pulled straw vitrification of mouse two pronuclear (2-PN) stage embryos

Little is known on the cryopreservation of mouse pronuclear (PN) stage embryos. In the present experiment the mouse 2-PN stage embryos were cryopreserved by conventional freezing, straw, or open-pulled straw (OPS) vitrificaiton methods. The conventional freezing solution was 1.5 mol/L ethylene glycol (EG), and vitrification solutions were EFS30 (30% EG, Ficoll, and sucrose), EFS40 (40% EG, Ficoll, and sucrose), EDFS30 (15% EG, 15%dimethyl sulfoxide [DMSO], Ficoll, and sucrose), or EDFS40 (20% EG, 20%DMSO, Ficoll, and sucrose). The blastocyst rate of 2-PN stage embryos cryopreserved by conventional method (30.4%) was lower than those vitrified by straw method with EDFS (56.9% to 69.1%), by OPS method (66.0% to 85.7%), and that of control (80.8%) (P < 0.05). With a given vitrificaiton solution EFS30, EFS40, EDFS30, or EDFS40, the blastocyst rate of embryos vitrified by the OPS method (66.7%, 66.0%, 85.7%, or 76.9%) was higher than that of those vitrified by the straw method (46.8%, 43.8%, 69.1%, or 56.9%) (P < 0.05). When mouse 2-PN-stage embryos were vitrified with EDFS30 by straw or OPS method, the highest blastocyst rate was achieved (69.1% or 85.7%) and was similar to that of the control, respectively. The embryos transfer results revealed that the full-term development of blastocysts derived from 2-PN stage embryos vitrified by OPS method with EDFS30 (19.9%) was similar to that of the control (23.5%), and higher than that of those cryopreserved by conventional freezing (9.3%) (P < 0.05). The present research demonstrates that the OPS method, especially with EDFS30, is more effective in cryopreserving mouse 2-PN embryos.

Intracellular sugars improve survival of human red blood cells cryopreserved at -80 degrees C in the presence of polyvinyl pyrrolidone and human serum albumin

Cryopreservation with impermeable protectants has great significance on storage of human red blood cells. It has become feasible to use glycerol free cryopreservation for human red blood cells. This study focuses on the effect of intracellular trehalose or glucose on human red blood cells cryopreserved in the presence of polymer. Red blood cells were cryopreserved for 48 h-72 h at -80 degrees C. The data showed that the loading efficiency of glucose was significantly higher than that of trehalose, but trehalose loading process induced more hemolysis than glucose loading process. Compared with the other groups, the combination of intracellular glucose, PVP, and human serum albumin can significantly decrease the percent hemolysis after cryopreservation (P<0.01). However, the percent hemolysis induced by intracellular trehalose was less than that induced by extracellular trehalose, but the difference was not significant (P<0.05). The adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) level and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) level of cryopreserved red blood cells were significantly less than those of fresh red blood cells. However, sugars can provide certain protection for ATP and 2, 3-DPG compared with red blood cells cryopreserved in the absence of sugars. The protection of glucose on the metabolic function was more than that of trehalose. Cryopreservation can increase the percentage of cells with exposed phosphatidylserine (PS), but the ability of trehalose to maintain PS normal distribution is higher than that of glucose. Furthermore, intracellular sugars can protect membrane integrity of cryopreserved red blood cells, although a small portion of cells appeared spherocytic or echinocytic shape. Finally, most membrane proteins of cryopreserved red blood cells were similar to the membrane proteins of fresh red blood cells, but trehalose can result in loss of glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPD) and peroxiredoxin 2. In conclusion, it is feasible to cryopreserve red blood cells using polymer, human albumin and sugars as main protectants. The cryoprotective effect of glucose may be better than that of trehalose in the presence of PVP and human serum albumin, because sugar loading process causes more cell injuries in case of trehalose compared to glucose, and these injuries in turn manifest themselves during subsequent cryopreservation and thawing. In the future, finding an approach to decrease the injuries during trehalose loading process still is critical.

[Regularity of sugar-uptake in human red blood cells]

Lyophilization of human red blood cells has important significance in clinical application. Some sugars, especially trehalose, can be more tolerant of some organism or cells to dry environments, But, how to bring sugars into cells is a challenge. This study was aimed to investigate the regularity of sugar-uptake in human red blood cells. The absorption rate of trehalose and glucose in red blood cells, free hemoglobin level and erythrocyte deformation index were determined at different incubation temperature (4, 25 and 37 degrees C), different sugar concentration (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1 mol/L) and different incubation time (1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 hours). The results showed that with increase of temperature and extracellular sugar concentration, the uptake of sugar in red blood cells also increased, the intracellular trehalose and glucose concentrations were over 30 mmol/L and 40 mmol/L respectively. The effects of incubation time on uptake of trehalose and glucose were different. With prolonging of incubation time, the uptake of trehalose showed firstly increase and then decrease, however, the uptake of glucose showed a constant increase. But the loading process had side-effect on free hemoglobin and maximum deformation index (MAXDI) of red blood cells, especially for trehalose, which mainly come from high osmotic pressure. It is concluded that the uptake of sugars in red blood cells is closely dependent on incubation temperature, extracellular sugar concentration and incubation time. In certain condition, the efficiency of sugar uptake is very high, but this process also damages red blood cells so as to affect the application of sugars in lyophilization of red blood cells. The research in the future should focus on how to deal with the relation between cell injury and uptake efficiency of sugar in red blood cells.

[Progress in the study of lyophilization of human red blood cells--review]

Now the clinical preservation methods of human red blood cells mainly include hypothermic storage (4 degrees C) and cryopreservation (-80 degrees C or -196 degrees C). The preservation time of hypothermic storage of red blood cells is relatively short and it is easy to be contaminated by microbes. Cryopreservation greatly prolongs the storage time, but it needs heavy storage equipments. Because the protective solutions in cryopreservation contain glycerol, red blood cells need complicated washing in order to remove glycerol. These shortage methods limit their application to some special conditions, such as war or natural disasters. Compared with conventional preservation methods of red blood cells, lyophilization has many advantages such as less weight, convenient transportation, room temperature preservation, prone to be rehydrated. In this review, the progress and challenge in the development of lyophilization of red blood cells, especially application of trehalose and its mechanism in the lyophilization of red blood cells were systematically discussed. This review can provide some theoretic guidance for developing a safe, simple and efficient preservation approach of red blood cells by lyophilization.

Vitrification of Mouse Embryos at Various Stages by Open-Pulled Straw (OPS) Method

This study was performed to pursue the optimal condition for the cryopreservation of mouse morulae by a two-step OPS method and to investigate the feasibility of the optimal condition for vitrification of embryos at other developmental stages. First, the mouse morulae were vitrified in OPS using one-step procedure-that is, embryos were vitrified after direct exposure to EDFS30 (15% ethylene glycol (EG), 15% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), Ficoll and sucrose), or two-step method-that is, embryos were first pretreated in 10%E + 10%D (10% EG and 10% DMSO in mPBS) for 30 sec, then exposed to EDFS30 for 15 to 60 sec, respectively. After vitrification and warming, the embryos were morphologically evaluated and assessed by their development to blastocysts, expanded/hatched blastocysts, or to term after transfer. The result showed that all the vitrified-warmed morulae had similar blastocyst rate compared to that of control (91.7% vs. 100%), and the highest developmental rate to expanded blastocysts (100%) or hatched blastocysts (62.3%) was observed when the morulae were pretreated with 10%E + 10%D for 0.5 min, exposed to EDFS30for 25 sec before vitrification and warming in 0.5 M sucrose for 5 min. After transfer, the survival rate (33.1%) in vivo of the vitrified morulae was higher (P > 0.05) than that of the fresh embryos (24.6%). Secondly, embryos at different stages were cryopreserved and thawed following the above program. Most (93.4 to 100%) of the embryos recovered after vitrification were morphologically normal at all the developmental stages. The blastocyst rates of the vitrified one-cell (52.5 to 66.7%) and the two-cell (63.3 to 68.9%) embryos were lower (P < 0.05) than those of the vitrified four-cell embryos (81.7 to 86.4%), the eight-cell embryos (90.0 to 93.3%), morulae (96.7 to 100%), and the expanded blastocysts rate (98.3 to 100.0%) of the vitrified early blastocysts. The highest survival rate in vivo of vitrified embryos were from the early blastocysts (40.4%), which was similar to that of fresh embryos (48.6%). The data demonstrate that the optimal protocol for the cryopreservation of morulae was suitable for the four-cell embryos to early blastocyst stages and that the early blastocyst stage is the most feasible stage for mouse embryo cryopreservation under our experimental conditions.

[Effect of pre-freezing temperature and lyophilizer shelf temperature on recovery of red blood cells after lyophilization]

To study effect of pre-freezing temperature and lyophilizer shelf temperature on recovery of human red blood cells after lyophilization and determine solidifying temperature of this lyophilization system, the protective solution composed of 7% DMSO, 40% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and isotonic buffer were adopted to lyophilize red blood cells at different pre-freezing temperatures or shelf temperatures. At first, fresh whole blood was centrifugated, washed and equilibrized to prepare concentrated red blood cells. Then concentrated red blood cells were mixed with the protective solution at 1:3 and pre-freezed at different temperature (-20, -35, -45, -80 or -196 degrees C) before lyophilization in lyophilizer. To study effect of shelf temperature on lyophilization of red blood cells, red blood cells were lyophilized at different shelf temperature after pre-freeze at -80 degrees C. After lyophilization, the samples were quickly rehydrated by 37 degrees C rehydration solution. The results showed the recovery rate of red blood cells and hemoglobin after pre-freeze at different temperature and lyophilization were > 85% and > 75%, there was not significant difference among these groups, but the concentration of free hemoglobin in -196 degrees C group was significantly higher than that in other groups (P < 0.01). With decreasing of shelf temperature, the lyophilizing time was also prolonged. When shelf temperature was > or = -25 degrees C, samples were not fully lyophilized; when shelf temperature was < or = -30 degrees C, the recovery rate of red blood cells and hemoglobin after lyophilization and rehydration were above 90%; after washed to isotonic state, the recovery rate of hemoglobin of the four groups was similar to each other. In conclusion, only when pre-freezing temperature is between -20 and -80 degrees C and the lyophilizer shelf temperature is < or = -30 degrees C, the effect of lyophilization is better, but the effect of excessively low pre-freezing temperature may even be worse.

[Effect of vitrification state of protective solutions on recovery of red blood cells after lyophilization preservation]

To study effect of vitrification state of protective solutions on recovery of red blood cells after lyophilization, four protective solutions composed of isotonic buffers containing 7% DMSO (v/v) and 20%, 30%, 40% or 50% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) (w/v) were adopted. Vitrification state of protective solutions was examined first when white ice crystal appeared in any protective solution during freezing or thawing, if the used solution was not a vitrification solution. Red blood cells were lyophilized in MINILYO45 freeze-dryer after washing, mixing with protective solutions and prefreezing. After lyophilization, the samples were quickly rehydrated by 37 degrees C rehydration solution. The results showed that in vitrification and devitrification experiments, white ice crystal appeared in solution of 20% PVP + 7% DMSO and 30% PVP + 7% DMSO during freezing and thawing; vitrification appeared in solution of 40% PVP + 7% DMSO during freezing, but devitrification appeared during thawing; vitrification appeared in solution of 50% PVP + 7% DMSO during freezing and thawing. After rehydration, the recoveries of red blood cells and hemoglobin in 40% PVP + 7% DMSO group were (81.36 +/- 14.94)% and (77.54 +/- 12.86)%, which were significantly higher than that in 20% PVP + 7% DMSO, 30% PVP + 7% DMSO and 50% PVP + 7% DMSO groups (P < 0.01). The concentration of free hemoglobin in 40% PVP + 7% DMSO group was also significantly lower than that in other three groups (P < 0.01). With increase of PVP concentration in protective solutions, vitrification state and protective effect of these solutions also increased; when concentration of PVP in protective solution was 40% though it was not a vitrification solution, the effect of lyophilization was the best; but when concentration of PVP further increased to 50%, though it was a vitrification solution, the effect decreased. It is concluded that excessive vitrification state could not benefit lyophilization of red blood cells.