Lee PC, Stewart S, Amelkina O, Sylvester H, He X, Comizzoli P. Trehalose delivered by cold-responsive nanoparticles improves tolerance of cumulus-oocyte complexes to microwave drying.
J Assist Reprod Genet 2023:10.1007/s10815-023-02831-x. [PMID:
37261586 PMCID:
PMC10371938 DOI:
10.1007/s10815-023-02831-x]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE
Trehalose is a non-permeable protectant that is the key to preserve live cells in a dry state for potential storage at ambient temperatures. After intracellular trehalose delivery via cold-responsive nanoparticles (CRNPs), the objective was to characterize the tolerance of cat cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) to different levels of microwave-assisted dehydration.
METHODS
Trehalose was first encapsulated in CRNPs. After exposure to trehalose-laden CRNPs, different water amounts were removed from cat COCs by microwave drying. After each dehydration level, meiotic and developmental competences were evaluated via in vitro maturation, fertilization, and embryo culture. In addition, expressions of critical genes were assessed by quantitative RT-PCR.
RESULTS
CRNPs effectively transported trehalose into COCs within 4 h of co-incubation at 38.5 °C followed by a cold-triggered release at 4 °C for 15 min. Intracellular presence of trehalose enabled the maintenance of developmental competence (formation of blastocysts) as well as normal gene expression levels of HSP70 and DNMT1 at dehydration levels reaching up to 63% of water loss.
CONCLUSION
Intracellular trehalose delivery through CRNPs improves dehydration tolerance of COCs, which opens new options for oocyte storage and fertility preservation at ambient temperatures.
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