earticle

영어

Iron is an important element which takes part in several biological processes. The role of iron in porcine oocyte maturation and early embryo development was still unknown. In the present study, iron was depleted by deferoxamine (DFM), a specific iron chelator, during in vitro maturation (IVM) and in vitro culture (IVC) period respectively. Results showed that, oocytes were matured with 1 μM DFM for 44 h followed by parthenogenetic activation (PA) displayed higher (p<0.05) blastocyst rate compared to without DFM in IVM medium. Another hand, supplemented with 0.5 μM DFM to the IVC medium for 7 days enhanced blastocyst formation both in PA and in vitro fertilization (IVF) groups (p<0.05). Although there was no difference in total cell number in IVF-derived blastocysts between control and iron depleted group, apoptotic index was significantly (p<0.05) decreased following iron depletion. ROS content in MII oocyte and blastocyst was significantly (p<0.05) decreased after iron depletion. For clarify the mechanism of the phenomenon, expressions of apoptotic- and ROS-related genes in the blastocyst were checked. Iron depletion reduced the expression of Caspase 3 and increased Bcl-xL in blastocyst (p<0.05), but there was no significanly differenc in m-RNA expression of Nox4. Mitochondrial membrane potential was increased both in MII oocytes and blastocysts after DFM treatment. In conclusion, iron depletion decreased ROS in oocytes and embryos developing in vitro, further enhanced mitochondrial activity and reduced the apoptosis in blastosyst, resulted in enhancement of the developmental capacity in porcine early embryos.