Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2020, Vol. 51 ›› Issue (6): 1238-1247.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2020.008

• ANIMAL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND REPRODUCTION • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of AREG on in vitro Maturation of Small Antral Follicular Oocytes of Sheep

WANG Zhaochen, ZHAO Yongchao, DU Wei, LUAN Zhaojin, LIU Chunjie, ZHANG Jiaxin*   

  1. Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China
  • Received:2019-12-19 Online:2020-06-25 Published:2020-06-23

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of amphiregulin (AREG) on in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes from sheep small antral follicles. In this study, oocytes from small and medium antral follicles of sheep ovary from the slaughterhouse were collected. Autofluorescence was used to detect NAD(P)H and FAD++ levels of oocytes, mitochondrial membrane potential of oocytes were detected by JC-1. After IVM, the cumulus expansion index (CEI) and first polar body expulsion rate (MII%) of oocytes from small and medium antral follicles were compared. The effects of AREG, AREG + GDF9, AREG + BMP15, AREG + GDF9 + BMP15 and GDF9 + BMP15 on CEI, MII% and mitochondrial membrane potential of small antral follicular oocytes were compared after IVM. After IVM, the effects of AREG + GDF9 + BMP15 on the levels of NAD(P)H and FAD++ of small antral follicular oocytes and their development ability after in vitro fertilization (IVF) were detected. The results showed that, before IVM, the mitochondrial membrane potential and FAD++ level of small antral follicular oocytes were significantly lower than those of medium antral follicular oocytes(P<0.05). After IVM, the CEI and MII% of the small antral follicular oocytes were significantly lower compared to medium antral follicular oocytes (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, AREG + GDF9 + BMP15 treatment significantly increased the CEI, MII% and mitochondrial membrane potential of small antral follicular oocytes after IVM (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference compared with the medium antral follicular oocytes(P>0.05). Moreover, AREG + GDF9 + BMP15 treatment significantly increased the levels of NAD(P)H and FAD++ of small antral follicular oocytes after IVM (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference compared with the medium antral follicular oocytes(P>0.05). Compared with the control group, supplemented AREG + GDF9 + BMP15 into IVM medium could significantly increase the cleavage rate and blastocyst rate of small antral follicular oocytes after IVF((43.79 ±3.69)%, (28.54 ±4.31)% and (78.99 ±1.12)%, (47.46 ±2.50)%, respectively, P<0.05), while there was no significant difference compared with the medium antral follicular oocytes(P>0.05). These results indicated that the metabolic level and IVM quality of oocytes from sheep small antral follicles were relatively low. With the synergistic effect of GDF9 and BMP15, AREG can significantly improve the metabolic level and IVM quality of oocytes from small antral follicles, and further improve their development ability after IVF.

Key words: sheep, small antral follicle, oocyte, IVM, AREG

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